Measuring Ageing Effects in the Human Brain

What is it about?

This study describes the effects that the ageing process has on brain tissue. A widespread pattern consistent with demyelination and iron accumulation was observed. These findings are consistent with histological reports that have looked at brain tissue samples post mortem. The key difference is that with MRI the entire brain of living participants can be examined at once, non-destructively and the effects of ageing on the MRI measures can be observed and quantified.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Age is the greatest risk factor for getting dementia, so, having knowledge of normal ageing may help us detect early changes related to dementia and also help us monitor response to treatments. MRI allows us to make measurements on the living brain that tell us about subtle changes in the micro-scale architecture. This study provides estimates of normative values and population variance for these measurements and their age-related. Differences greater than these may reflect pathological changes.