New research suggests that the outer edges of the brain are thinner in older people who may be destined to develop Alzheimer's disease, but there's currently no way to use the information to help people fend off dementia.
Still , the findings could help researchers test Alzheimer's medications by allowing them to track the progression of the disease, said study co-author Dr. Brad Dickerson, an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School.
Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Alzheimer's Association, and the number of deaths has risen in recent years. There's no cure in the disease.
In the new study, researchers focused on the thickness of the edges of the brain, known as the cortex. "We're looking at the parts of the cortex that are particularly vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease, parts that are important for memory, problem-solving skills and higher-language functions," Dickerson said.
Previous research found that several areas of the cortext were smaller in people with dementia from Alzheimer's. "It's like an orange that's shriveling. The thickness of the outer skin might get thinner as its dries out," Dickerson said.
In the new study, researchers examined the MRI brain scans of 159 people with an average age of 78; about half were men. Three years later, the participants took tests designed to measure how their brains were functioning.