Chinese researchers have found that having a more developed frontal lobe can help some people stay sharper as they age. Their study focuses on differences between the brains of older adults with superior cognitive function and those with moderate cognitive impairment (MCI).
The study, published Nov. 11 in the Chinese peer-reviewed journal Science Bulletin, found that people with mild cognitive impairment showed structural deterioration in one area of the brain, the temporal region, leading to successful cognitive aging (SCA). Those who did have better preserved frontal brain structures, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
Processing auditory data and maintaining memory are two key functions of the temporal lobe. Researchers have found links between structural abnormalities in this region and pathological cognitive aging and associated disorders such as dementia.
The study included three groups of older adults aged 70 to 88 years: 66 cognitively healthy controls, 68 patients with mild cognitive impairment, and 64 cognitively healthy controls. people aged to
Different morphologies of brain tissue were evaluated and the properties of gray matter volume, gray matter network, and white matter network in the three groups were compared.
The main purpose of gray matter, which consists mainly of nerve cell bodies, is to process information in the brain. Axons, which make up most of the white matter, are used to conduct nerve impulses and transmit them to different parts of the brain and spinal cord.
