Activation of the Brain to Postpone Dementia: A Concept Originating from Postmortem Human Brain Studies
1Department of Neurology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310020, China
2 Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
3 Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by decreased neuronal activity and atrophy, while hyperactivity of neurons seems to make them resistant to aging and neurodegeneration, a phenomenon which we have paraphrased as ‘use it or lose it’. Our hypothesis proposes that (1) during their functioning, neurons are damaged; (2) accumulation of damage that is not repaired is the basis of aging; (3) the vulnerability to AD is determined by the genetic background and the balance between the amount of damage and the efficiency of repair, and (4) by stimulating the brain, repair mechanisms are stimulated and cognitive reserve is increased, resulting in a decreased rate of aging and risk for AD. Environmental stimulating factors such as bilingualism/multilingualism, education, occupation, musical experience, physical exercise, and leisure activities have been reported to reduce the risk of dementia and decrease the rate of cognitive decline, although methodological problems are present.
Keywords
Dementia Genes; Environmental stimulation; Brain activation; Cognitive reserve; Use it or lose it
