Evolutionarily Youngest Brain Regions Age First
A research team from Forschungszentrum Jülich and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf has discovered that the regions of the human brain that have expanded most recently in the course of evolution show the strongest aging effects. This is evident from comparisons with brain ageing in our closest relatives, the chimpanzees. The findings of this study have now been published in the journal Science Advances. (Source: Forschungszentrum Jülich – Press Releases)
The aging of the brain is a complex process characterized by the loss of gray matter in various regions. While this process is also observed in chimpanzees, new research shows that in humans, age-related changes particularly affect brain regions that have expanded significantly during the course of evolution. These are primarily areas of the prefrontal cortex, which are responsible for higher cognitive functions such as executive control and working memory—and have grown larger compared to the chimpanzee brain, distinguishing us from them. In chimpanzees, however, the loss of gray matter occurs mainly in deeper brain regions like the striatum, a core region of the forebrain important for motor functions and the reward system.
The researchers hope that their findings will pave the way for new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to better understand and mitigate the effects of aging on the human brain. “Our findings could contribute to the development of new treatment and prevention strategies for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” says Felix Hoffstaedter, a scientist in the Brain and Behavior Research Division at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine at Forschungszentrum Jülich.
For the study, the researchers utilized the already existing, world’s largest dataset of high-resolution MRI scans of chimpanzees from the U.S. research initiative National Chimpanzee Brain Resource (NCBR). The human MRI data came from the IXI dataset, a publicly accessible collection of comparable brain MRI scans. Using a new pattern recognition method, called Orthogonal Projective Non-negative Matrix Factorization (OPNMF), they analyzed the brain structure of both species. The method enabled the division of the brain into comparable regions, allowing for the identification of differences and similarities in the aging processes.
FZJ/B. Schunk, 10.09.2024
Note: The article has been translated from German to English. It is based on a press release from FZJ.
The original press release can be found at:
Evolutionarily Youngest Brain Regions Age First
The original publication can be found at:
The uniqueness of human vulnerability to brain aging in great ape evolution by Sam Vickery et al, Sciences Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado273
Localization in Helmholtz Information:
Helmholtz Information, Program 2: Natural, Artificial and Cognitive Information Processing, Topic 5: Decoding Brain Organization and Dysfunction
Contact:
Dr. Felix Hoffstaedter
Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM)
Brain and Behaviour (INM-7)
Forschungszentrum Jülich
Phone: +49 2461/61-3332
E-Mail: f.hoffstaedter@fz-juelich.de
Contact for this press release:
Dr. Barbara Schunk
Press officer
Forschungszentrum Jülich
Phone: +49 2461 61-8031
E-Mail: b.schunk@fz-juelich.de
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