Mapping the Brain in Decline

Alzheimer's is a nasty disease, resulting in progressive, permanent, neurological deterioration, leading eventually to dementia - and the loss of the unique you that existed before the disease - even if your heart remains strong and your body robust. The causes and progression of Alzheimer's are not well understood.

One of the reasons research in Alzheimer's has been hampered is because of a lack of a reliable method to diagnose it. Alzheimer's is diagnosed with a constellation of symptoms, including memory loss, mood swings, aggression, symptoms of mental decline, and, most notably, amyloid plaques on the brain. Amyloid plaques - bunches of protein fibers in the gray matter of the brain - are necessary for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's, but testing for their presence was not possible until after the person died and their brain could be examined in an autopsy.

A new study shows great promise in the detection of these plaques, however. In this research, radioactive dye is injected into the brain.  This "lights up" the plaques in brain scans, and therefore makes them viewable. This is important for a variety of reasons.

Brain scans that showed plaque could help with some fundamental questions — who has or is getting Alzheimer’s, whether the disease ever stops or slows down on its own and even whether plaque is the main culprit causing brain cell death.

Being able to accurately diagnose Alzheimer's would be pivotal in the development of means by which to combat its effects. For example, we might be able to identify people who were in the process of getting Alzheimer's - a breakthrough that could provide help to people before declines begin. It would also give us more information about whether or not new drugs developed to treat it were working.

But my favorite part of this emerging research? The creativity and tenacity of the scientists who conducted the study. The FDA insisted that proof be supplied that the amyloid plaques being detected in the brain scans are the same as the ones that are identified in the brains of dead Alheimer's patients. How can a researcher collect this information in a reasonable amount of time, given that patients with Alzheimer's often survive for decades after the initial diagnosis is made? Well, the researchers came up with a solution to this - conduct research on participants in a hospice, close to death and nearing their final stop in the march of life. While some criticized this initially as being unethical or demeaning to potential participants, the research was allowed to proceed (and from accounts, people were glad to participate). And the research worked. And now, because of this, a new technique to monitor a terrible disease is within our sights.

Science is not pure. It is shaped and molded by pragmatic and ethical constraints. The trick is not just knowing what to study, but how to go about doing so in a way that is both scientifically valid, ethically justifiable, and practically possible. Kudos to this research team for their ingenuity.

On getting older.

The brain. 
Not as bad as it was once thought to be, and even better than young brains at some things.

The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture. If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways that help its owner recognize patterns, and, as a consequence, see significance and even solutions much faster than a young person can.

How do we keep it sharp?  Exercise, health, good relationship, and a bit of healthy disagreement apparently.

Happiness.
And there's more good news.

On the global measure [of happiness], people start out at age 18 feeling pretty good about themselves, and then, apparently, life begins to throw curve balls. They feel worse and worse until they hit 50. At that point, there is a sharp reversal, and people keep getting happier as they age. By the time they are 85, they are even more satisfied with themselves than when they were 18.

So hang in there if things are rough. Your knees may go, your back may ache, and you may need to cock your ear towards conversations to hear what people say. But apparently happiness is built out of more.

Sex.
And remember how I mentioned in class today that people except for my parents of course still have sex when they enter later adulthood? Here's some advice on how to get your groove on (pretty sfw by the way, despite the youtube warning).