Thursday, August 13, 2009

Cognitive reserve and Alzheimer's disease

People with severe brain pathology can show almost no signs of Alzheimer's disease while others with only mild brain lesions exhibit a considerable degree of clinical symptoms. Researchers put this down to cognitive reserve - the amount of spare capacity in the brain which can be used when other parts are damaged. Researchers from Munich Technical University scanned the brains of 270 people with Alzheimer's disease and found that people who had had more years of formal education showed less loss of cognition even when their brains had obviously lost volume. The results of the study took into account other factors such as genetic characteristics, age, gender and brain infarction.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090811161339.htm

1 comment:

kylie@icarastudy said...

Any research that provides additional insight into Alzheimer’s is critical to finding a cure. It’s also important for patients and families affected by Alzheimer’s to consider participating in clinical studies. One study is the ICARA Study, whose goal is to explore if an investigational drug, called Bapineuzumab, can help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease. Patients and families affected by Alzheimer’s can visit www.icarastudy.com to see if they might be eligible to enroll.