Quick takes

Omega-3 oil linked to lower level of Alzheimer's protein

June, 2012

A new study adds to growing evidence that higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids help protect against Alzheimer’s disease.

A new study, involving 1,219 dementia-free older adults (65+), has found that the more omega-3 fatty acids the person consumed, the lower the level of beta-amyloid in the blood (a proxy for brain levels). Consuming a gram of omega-3 more than the average per day was associated with 20-30% lower beta-amyloid levels. A gram of omega-3 equates to around half a fillet of salmon per week.

Participants provided information about their diet for an average of 1.2 years before their blood was tested for beta-amyloid. Other nutrients investigated —saturated fatty acids, omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, mono-unsaturated fatty acid, vitamin E, vitamin C, beta-carotene, vitamin B12, folate and vitamin D — were not associated with beta-amyloid levels.

The results remained after adjusting for age, education, gender, ethnicity, amount of calories consumed and APOE gene status.

The findings are consistent with previous research associating higher levels of omega-3 and/or fish intake with lower risk of Alzheimer’s. Additionally, another recent study provides evidence that the brains of those with Alzheimer’s disease, MCI, and the cognitively normal, all have significantly different levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. That study concluded that the differences were due to both consumption and metabolic differences.

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[2959] Gu, Y., Schupf N., Cosentino S. A., Luchsinger J. a, & Scarmeas N.
(2012).  Nutrient Intake and Plasma Β-Amyloid.
Neurology. 78(23), 1832 - 1840.

Cunnane, S.C. et al. 2012. Plasma and Brain Fatty Acid Profiles in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 29 (3), 691-697.

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Purpose in life protects against Alzheimer's disease

June, 2012
  • New results from a longitudinal study add to evidence that having a purpose and finding meaning in life protects against the harmful effects of Alzheimer’s pathology in the brain.

Here’s a different aspect to cognitive reserve. I have earlier reported on the first tranche of results from this study. Now new results, involving 246 older adults from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, have confirmed earlier findings that having a greater purpose in life may help protect against the brain damage wrought by Alzheimer’s disease.

Participants received an annual clinical evaluation for up to 10 years, which included detailed cognitive testing and neurological exams. They were also interviewed about their purpose in life, that is, the degree to which they derived meaning from life's experiences and were focused and intentional. After death (average age 88), their brains were examined for Alzheimer’s pathology.

Cognitive function, unsurprisingly, declined progressively with increased Alzheimer’s pathology (such as amyloid plaque and tau tangles). But ‘purpose in life’ modified this association, with higher levels of purposiveness reducing the effect of pathology on cognition. The effect was strongest for those with the greatest damage (especially tangles).

The analysis took into account depression, APOE gene status, and other relevant medical factors.

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Long-term cognitive effects of breast cancer chemotherapy

April, 2012

A study has found greater cognitive decline in older women who were given chemotherapy for breast cancer 20 years ago.

Women who received a once-standard type of chemotherapy regimen for breast cancer between 1976 and 1995 have been found to score worse on cognitive tests than women who never had cancer. Specifically, they tended to have lower scores on tests of immediate and delayed verbal memory, executive function, information processing speed, and psychomotor speed. The difference was comparable to some six years of age-related decline.

CMF chemotherapy was the standard of care for breast cancer worldwide from the 1970s through the 1990s. Some of the chemicals (shown to be associated with impaired learning and memory in animal studies) are still commonly incorporated in modern chemotherapeutic regimens for breast cancer.

The study compared the performance of 196 women who had received CMF chemotherapy to that of 1,509 women enrolled in the Rotterdam Study. All participants were aged 50-80 at the beginning of the study. Factors such as age, education, and depression score were taken into account in the analysis.

For more about the effects of chemotherapy on cognition

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Larger belly linked to memory problems in people with HIV

April, 2012

HIV-related cognitive impairment is significantly associated with a greater waist circumference, and in older adults, with diabetes.

A study involving 130 HIV-positive people has found that memory impairment was associated with a significantly larger waistline.

Some 40% of participants (average age 46) had impaired cognition. This group had an average waist circumference of 39 inches, compared to 35 inches for those without such problems. Memory impairment was also linked to diabetes in those older than 55 (15% of those with memory problems had diabetes compared to only 3% of those without memory problems).

Waistline was more important than BMI. Unfortunately, some anti-HIV drugs cause weight gain in this area.

The finding is consistent with evidence that abdominal weight is more important than overall weight for cognitive impairment and dementia in the general population.

For more about HIV-related cognitive impairment

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Low levels of omega-3 fatty acids linked to brain aging

April, 2012
  • A large study has found that older adults with low levels of omega-3 fatty acids had greater brain atrophy and more white matter damage.

A study involving 1,575 older adults (aged 58-76) has found that those with DHA levels in the bottom 25% had smaller brain volume (equivalent to about 2 years of aging) and greater amounts of white matter lesions. Those with levels of all omega-3 fatty acids in the bottom quarter also scored lower on tests of visual memory, executive function, and abstract thinking.

The finding adds to the evidence that higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids reduce dementia risk.

For more about omega-3 oils and cognition

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Infants prenatally exposed to ecstasy show slower development

April, 2012

Infants exposed to ecstasy in the womb show slower development at four months.

The first study to look at the effects of the drug ecstasy on infant development has shown that infants exposed to ecstasy before they were born tend to be behind, especially in motor and coordination skills, at four months.

The study involved 96 women who were questioned about their substance use prior to and during pregnancy. Most of the women surveyed had taken a variety of illegal drugs. 28 women had taken MDMA (ecstasy) during pregnancy. The infants of these women had poorer motor development and lower milestone attainment at 4 months, with a dose–response relationship to the amount of MDMA exposure.

The study is continuing, to see whether these children experience long-term problems.

Participants were primarily middle class with some university education and in stable partner relationships.

For more about the effects of ecstasy on cognition

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How marijuana impairs working memory

April, 2012

A mouse study indicates that the psychoactive component of marijuana, TCP, impairs working memory by initiating a process that ends with neural connections being weakened.

A new study explains how marijuana impairs working memory. The component THC removes AMPA receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate in the hippocampus. This means that there are fewer receivers for the information crossing between neurons.

The research is also significant because it adds to the growing evidence for the role of astrocytes in neural transmission of information.

This is shown by the finding that genetically-engineered mice who lack type-1 cannabinoid receptors in their astroglia do not show impaired working memory when exposed to THC, while those who instead lacked the receptors in their neurons do. The activation of the cannabinoid receptor expressed by astroglia sends a signal to the neurons to begin the process that removes AMPA receptors, leading to long-term depression (a type of synaptic plasticity that weakens, rather than strengthens, neural connections).

See the Guardian and Scientific American articles for more detail on the study and the processes involved.

For more on the effects of marijuana on memory

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