Researchers have found a protein whose presence in the human body in great quantity is responsible for alterations in the brain can lead to the impairment of executive thinking ability. The scientists examined 447 subjects who were aged around 63 and who had a medical history that was free from disorders like dementia or stroke.
The team of researchers, of the University of Munster in Germany, assessed qualities such as word fluency, verbal memory and executive functions among the participants. The term “executive function”, here, relates to that skill which is required when planning, choosing a particular behavior or in decision making.
The volunteers who took part in the study had to undergo MRI brain scanning tests which included the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). According to a research that was published in the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, this process assesses the movement of water molecules that are present in the brain.
By basing themselves on these tests, the scientists found out that the greater levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is an indicator of inflammation in the blood, damaged the executive function. For example, participants who had the greatest levels of CRP required a mean time of seven seconds more for the test when compared to the other participants who had the lowest levels of CRP.
While in general, the average time to finish a test of executive function was around 85 seconds, the participants who had the highest levels of CRP took around seven more seconds to complete the executive function tests than those who had the lowest levels of that protein. But functions like language or memory were not affected by it.
Alterations in the brain, that the scientists recorded by using the DTI, of the participants with the highest level of CRP were comparable to those that are caused by twelve years of aging. An increase level of CRP is moreover known to have an impact on the brain’s frontal lobe. The latter is responsible for controlling the motor functions. However, this was not examined by the scientists.
Heike Wersching, the author of the research conducted, explained that specific drugs, like aspirin and statins, as well as physical activity and weight control could lend a helping hand in keeping in the check the CRP level in the body. He however contended that the study conducted did not examined whether such a treatment would prove to be effective.
Source: Bolo Health
Sun, May 16, 2010
Bioscience, Gerontology, Health And Aging, Lifestyle