Brain parenchymal changes during normal aging in domestic cats

Abstract

This study aimed to identify changes related to brain parenchyma as advancing age in healthy domestic cats. Our hypothesis is that cats suffer cerebral and cerebellar atrophy and show focal changes in signal intensity of the brain parenchyma in accordance with the progression of age. Twelve adult (1 to 6 years), eleven mature (7 to11 years) and ten geriatric non-brachycephalic cats (12 years or more of age) underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There were no changes in signal intensity and contrast uptake in brain parenchyma of the cats. Geriatric animals showed significantly lower average thickness of the interthalamic adhesion and percentage of the cerebral parenchyma volume in relation to intracranial volume than those found in the adult group. No significant differences were found between groups for cerebral volume, cerebellar volume and percentage of cerebellar volume in relation to intracranial volume. The results of this study indicate that atrophy of the cerebral parenchyma, including the interthalamic adhesion, occurs with age in domestic cats, confirming the hypothesis of the study. However, the results did not corroborate the hypothesis that cats show cerebellar atrophy and focal changes in signal intensity of the brain parenchyma with advancing age.

Nutrients, Cognitive Function, and Brain Aging: What We Have Learned from Dogs

“…Since the BPB diet was able to enhance cognitive performance in healthy middle-aged and old cats [17], we conducted a four-year study to determine whether the BPB diet could reduce brain atrophy in middle-aged and old cats [110]. The thickness of the interthalamic adhesion (ITA) significantly declines with aging in both dogs [111] and cats [112], making it a reliable index of brain atrophy. In this study, we investigated the effect of both the BPB diet and the control diet on the changes in ITA thickness in cats.…”