Aging brain maintains healthy cognitive function by increasing bilateral communication
Increased communication between distant brain regions helps older adults
compensate for the negative aspects of aging, reports a new study published
this week in Human Brain Mapping.
The aged brain tends to show more bilateral communication than the young
brain. While this finding has been observed many times, it has not been clear
whether this phenomena is helpful or harmful and no study has directly
manipulated this effect, until now.
"This study provides an explicit test of some controversial ideas about how
the brain reorganizes as we age," said lead author Simon Davis, PhD. "These
results suggest that the aging brain maintains healthy cognitive function by
increasing bilateral communication."
Simon Davis and colleagues used a brain stimulation technique known as
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to modulate brain activity of healthy
older adults while they performed a memory task. When researchers applied
TMS at a frequency that depressed activity in one memory region in the left
hemisphere, communication increased with the same region in the right
hemisphere, suggesting the right hemisphere was compensating to help with
the task.
In contrast, when the same prefrontal site was excited, communication was
increased only in the local network of regions in the left hemisphere. This
suggested that communication between the hemispheres is a deliberate
process that occurs on an "as needed" basis.
Furthermore, when the authors examined the white matter pathways between
these bilateral regions, participants with stronger white matter fibers
connecting left and right hemispheres demonstrated greater bilateral
communication, strong evidence that structural neuroplasticity keeps the
brain working efficiently in later life.
September 15, 2017
Aging brain maintains healthy cognitive function by increasing bilateral communication
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"Good roads make for efficient travel, and the brain is no different. By taking
advantage of available pathways, aging brains may find an alternate route to
complete the neural computations necessary for functioning," said Davis.
These results suggest that greater bilaterality in the prefrontal cortex might
be the result of the aging brain adapting to the damage endured over the
lifespan, in an effort to maintain normal function. Future brainstimulation
techniques could target this bilateral effect in effort to promote
communication between the hemispheres and, hopefully, engender healthy
cognition throughout the lifespan.
Source:
https://neurology.duke.edu/about/news/brainhalvesincreasecommunicationcompensateagingstudyfinds
Aging brain maintains healthy cognitive function by increasing bilateral communication
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