Brain lesions can cause forgetfulness in later life

Researchers have concluded that lesions in the brain can lead to memory loss in older people, late in life. The study was conducted at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and the results were published 15th September 2010 in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The scientists found that the same brain lesions that bring on dementia in later life can also be responsible for ordinary memory loss.

The subjects of the study comprised 350 Catholic nuns, monks and priests. They were given memory tests each year for 13 years and after their deaths their brains were examined for lesions. One finding was that memory loss in older people started off slowly and then accelerated in the last five years of life.

The researchers found that tangles in the brain otherwise called Lewy bodies which are accumulations or clumps of protein appear to be connected to memory loss in later life. When tangles were not present a memory loss was very minimal and the rate of gradual memory loss was doubled by strokes.

Robert S. Wilson, PhD, of the Rush University Medical Center, said in a news release that "brain lesions have a much greater impact on memory function in old age" than had been previously thought. He added:"Our results challenge the concept of normal memory aging and hint at the possibility that these lesions play a role in virtually all late-life memory loss.”

The memory tests involved word recall, verbal, naming, number, memory and reading assignments. Mr Wilson said: “Understanding how and when these brain lesions affect memory as we age will likely be critical to efforts to develop treatments that delay memory loss in old age."

While the research now indicates that mild memory impairment associated with ageing mainly result from lesions normally responsible for Alzheimer's, nevertheless there are other causes too. Such brain lesions are also associated with the memory decline that precedes serious conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer's. The researchers say in the report that the lesions: "have a much greater impact on late-life cognitive functioning than previously recognized."

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