It’s not just your skin, our brains WRINKLE with age – and it could help spot Alzheimer’s
New research has revealed the brain 'folds' with age - a discovery which could help diagnose Alzheimer's in its early stages
SAGGING skin is one of the dreaded first signs of ageing.
But now it appears our brains also start to loose their firmness, and wrinkle as we age.
New research has revealed how the human brain 'folds' - and experts hope the discovery could pave the way for new ways to spot the early signs of dementia.
Newcastle University, which has worked in collaboration with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, investigated the way the human brain folds and how this 'cortical folding' changes with age.
They also discovered this effect was more pronounced in individuals with Alzheimer's disease.
Lead author, Dr Yujiang Wang of Newcastle University, said: "One of the key features of a mammalian brain is the grooves and folds all over the surface – a bit like a walnut - but until now no-one has been able to measure this folding in a consistent way.
"By mapping the brain folding of more than 1,000 people, we have shown that our brains fold according to a simple universal law.
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"We also show that a parameter of the law, which is interpreted as the tension on the inside of the cortex, decreases with age.
"In Alzheimer’s disease, this effect is observed at an earlier age and is more pronounced.
"The next step will be to see if there is a way to use the changes in folding as an early indicator of disease."
The team found that as we age, the tension on the cortex, which is the outer layer of the brain's membrane, appears to decrease.
Their findings were published in the academic journal PNAS and the team believe the new research could be used in the future to help diagnose brain diseases.
The research also found that male and female brains differ in size, surface area and the degree of folding.
Female brains tended to be slightly less folded than male brains of the same age.
Dr Wang added: "This indicates that for the first time, we have a consistent way of quantifying cortical folding in humans.
"Throughout the lifespan of healthy individuals, cortical folding changes in the same way in both men and women but in those with Alzheimer’s disease the change in the brain folding was significantly different.
"More work is needed in this area but it does suggest that the effect Alzheimer’s disease has on the folding of the brain is akin to premature ageing of the cortex."
This new breakthrough comes after scientists in Britain said they were hoping to develop a nasal spray to help treat Alzheimer's.
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