In the brains of academics, specific degenerative processes are decreased. The brains of academics can better compensate for age-related cognitive and neural limitations.
In the brains of academics, specific degenerative processes are decreased. The brains of academics can better compensate for age-related cognitive and neural limitations. The researchers followed more than 200 senior citizens for over seven years. The study participants are not affected by dementia, have average to above-average intelligence and lead highly active social lives. They were examined neuroanatomically as well as neuropsychologically using magnetic resonance imaging at regular intervals.
White spots and black holes
In her PhD thesis, first author Isabel Hotz used novel automatic methods among others to study so-called lacunes and white matter hyperintensities. These degenerative processes showed up as “black holes” and “white spots” on the digital images. The reasons for this are not yet known and may have to do with small, unnoticed cerebral infarcts, reduced blood flow or loss of nerve pathways or neurons. This can limit a person’s cognitive performance, in particular when degeneration affects key regions of the brain.
The findings revealed that over the course of seven years, senior citizens with an academic background showed a significantly lower increase in these typical signs of brain degeneration. “In addition, academics also processed information faster and more accurately – for example, when matching letters, numbers of patterns. The decline in their mental processing performance was lower overall,” summarizes Hotz.
Tapping into reserves
The findings add to initial findings of other research groups, who have found that education has a positive effect on brain aging. Previous studies also suggest that mental processing speed depends on the integrity of neural networks in the brain. If these networks are affected, mental processing speed decreases.
Advertisement
It is also possible that brains that are active well into old age are less susceptible to degeneration processes, adds the neuropsychologist, though this would have to be verified in the further course of the ongoing long-term study.
Advertisement