Impact of brain aging on recovery

Using data from ENIGMA Stroke Recovery Working Groupresearchers followed 223 stroke patients at seven research sites in four countries.

Participants were asked about motor control symptoms, participants in the study were at various stages of post-stroke recovery, and data was collected an average of 147 days post-stroke.

The researchers found that both the magnitude of white matter hyperintensity and the areas of the brain affected by stroke were positively correlated with motor control symptoms.

The researchers also found that in people with less increased white matter signal intensity, motor control symptoms were more related to the size of the area affected by the stroke.

In contrast, for people with greater white matter signal intensity, their symptoms showed a greater correlation with corticospinal tract damage.

No significant differences were observed between men and women.

The authors suggest that the findings may indicate that increased white matter signal intensity alters the recovery of motor control in individuals after stroke.

White matter hyperintensities appear similar to an MRI scan because they represent areas of fluid accumulation.

These are present in more than half of people over the age of 60 and are associated with aging.

These areas have been shown to increase with age and are correlated with: cognition and risk Alzheimer's disease (AD)However, understanding of its causes is not conclusive.

“White matter hyperintensity is the most commonly identified radiological finding on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequences of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans.” Jose MoralesM.D., a vascular neurologist and neurointerventional surgeon at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, Calif., said he was not involved in the study. MNT.

“White matter hyperintensity refers specifically to lesions found in the brain's white matter tracts, i.e. the cables that connect neurons, and images of diseases that affect/damage the cells that insulate these tracts, i.e. oligodendrocytes. It’s a marker,” he added. .

Previous studies have shown that white matter hyperintensity correlates with short length. telomere length.

telomeres Telomeres are repeating sequences of non-coding DNA at the ends of chromosomes that shorten each time a cell divides. This means that as we age, the telomeres in our cells become shorter.

“WMH is a white matter lesion in the brain that is thought to be caused by reduced blood flow or reduced blood flow. ischemic It’s damage (from vascular disease),” Liu said.

“Their causes vary, but recent research shows that they can sometimes be reversed. They are commonly associated with risks such as cognitive decline and stroke. Vascular disorders. It is believed that it can be alleviated by improving lifestyle habits. high blood pressure It can be very beneficial. ”

Inflammation and ischemic injury are two known mechanisms that are known to be causative. white matter disease And white matter signal strength is increased, Morales explained.

“In the latter case, small vessel disease causes ischemic demyelination. WMH affects the conduction of electrical signals between neurons and can also affect neuroplasticity and the activity of compensatory neural networks. Both are mechanisms the brain employs to recover from brain damage, such as a stroke.”

— Jose Morales, MD, vascular neurologist and neurointerventional surgeon

The next step for researchers may be to identify biomarkers for white matter hyperintensities, Morales suggested.

“Novel imaging sequences and serum assays have been developed that can reliably identify upstream biomarkers of small vessel disease and blood-brain barrier opening abnormalities, both of which are putatively linked to the appearance of white matter hyperintensities.” It is important to note that is a downstream epiphenomenon of the hidden phenomenon. cerebrovascular disease,” He said.

“Primary prevention is the best prevention, but early secondary prevention has great potential to have a huge positive impact on many people at risk of stroke and terminal illnesses such as stroke. dementia” Morales concluded.