Aging and brain plasticity

Pauwels, Lisa; Chalavi, Sima; Swinnen, Stephan P.

doi:10.18632/aging.101514

Cited by 49 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Several reviews have discussed the intrinsical interweaving between Alzheimer's disease and aging in molecular, cellular, and systemic aspects [55,58]. Aging in humans is relevant to decreased levels of synaptic proteins related to synaptic structural plasticity [59], and aging-related spatial learning impairments correlate with the hippocampal synapse failure [60][61][62][63][64]. Synaptic plasticity is determined by normal synapse structure and functional synaptic proteins.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preventive Electroacupuncture Ameliorates D-Galactose-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Pathology and Memory Deficits Probably via Inhibition of GSK3β/mTOR Signaling Pathway

Wang

et al. 2020

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Acupuncture has been practiced to treat neuropsychiatric disorders for a thousand years in China. Prevention of disease by acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, guided by the theory of Chinese acupuncture, gradually draws growing attention nowadays and has been investigated in the role of the prevention and treatment of mental disorders such as AD. Despite its well-documented efficacy, its biological action remains greatly invalidated. Here, we sought to observe whether preventive electroacupuncture during the aging process could alleviate learning and memory deficits in D-galactose-induced aged rats. We found that preventive electroacupuncture at GV20-BL23 acupoints during aging attenuated the hippocampal loss of dendritic spines, ameliorated neuronal microtubule injuries, and increased the expressions of postsynaptic PSD95 and presynaptic SYN, two important synapse-associated proteins involved in synaptic plasticity. Furthermore, we observed an inhibition of GSK3β/mTOR pathway activity accompanied by a decrease in tau phosphorylation level and prompted autophagy activity induced by preventive electroacupuncture. Our results suggested that preventive electroacupuncture can prevent and alleviate memory deficits and ameliorate synapse and neuronal microtubule damage in aging rats, which was probably via the inhibition of GSK3β/mTOR signaling pathway. It may provide new insights for the identification of prevention strategies of AD.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preventive Electroacupuncture Ameliorates D-Galactose-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Pathology and Memory Deficits Probably via Inhibition of GSK3β/mTOR Signaling Pathway

Wang

et al. 2020

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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“…One of the main risk factors for elder abuse is difficulties in assimilating, processing and transforming information; and decreased abilities, such as attention, perception, and language processing, which make them more vulnerable (J. Y. Lee, 2015;Pauwels et al, 2018). Similarly, lower levels of cognitive function appear to be associated with a higher likelihood of being a victim of fraud (James et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some authors attribute this high incidence to declines in cognitive functioning, particularly failure of decision-making processes, which are essential for recognizing, preventing and responding to this type of abuse (Han et al, 2016;James et al, 2014;Shao et al, 2019). Complex and higher order cognitive functions can significantly decrease in older adults, so level of cognitive difficulty also seems to be directly related to prevalence and factors involved in older adult abuse by family members and caregivers (Kishimoto et al, 2013;Pauwels et al, 2018). Also, caregiver sex (male), emotional burden and the nature of the neuropsychiatric symptoms of older adults seem to influence the indicators of psychological and physical maltreatment, but variables such as the older adult's gender did not show a significant effect on indicators of maltreatment (Kishimoto et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bullying in Old Age: A Qualitative Study on Older Adults’ Perceptions About Being Bullied

Humboldt

Ribeiro-Gonçalves

Leal

2020

J Interpers Violence

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Significant demographic changes and a growing aging population increasingly emphasize the importance of assessing phenomena of violence against older adults, who constitute a vulnerable population. Therefore, bullying in old age is a poorly studied phenomena, but of growing importance. This study aims to analyze the perspectives of bullying in old age, using qualitative research at a cross-national level. We interviewed 173 older participants aged 65–91 years. Participants were Portuguese and English and lived in the community. Participants were subjected to semi-structured interviews. All the interviews went through a process of content analysis. Sample recruitment occurred through initial telephone contact, followed by a request to participate. Outcomes of content analysis produced seven themes, all of them associated with bullying experiences such as compromised learning capacity, loss of sense of agency and decision-making, asexuality, less attractive appearance, less social skills, gender discrimination, and less financial resources. Portuguese older adults felt mostly bullied for their loss of sense of agency and decision-making, less attractive appearance, less social skills, and less financial resources, while English participants mostly felt bullied for their compromised learning capacity, gender discrimination, and asexuality. The themes identified as being the most prominent in bullying are valuable guidelines for social policies and interventions toward bullying among older adults. Considering the scarcity of studies on bullying in older adults, this study is relevant for understanding the experience of older adults in relation to being bullied and for implementing psychosocial intervention programs including bullying situations that affect community-dwelling older adults.

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“…However, neurodiagnostic tools such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) have been extensively used to assess brain-behavior relationships over the lifespan. Based on these investigations, we know that the brain adapts its function and structure according to environmental changes on a very short time scale (Lin et al, 2018;Burke and Barnes, 2006;Erickson et al, 2013;Smith, 2013;Pauwels et al, 2018). Apart from learning-induced functional brain adaptations, recent studies suggest that the effectiveness of movement control and motor skill learning also depends on the individual brain structure and its neuroplastic adaptation (Draganski et al, 2004;Taubert et al, 2010Taubert et al, , 2011Tomassini et al, 2011;Sampaio-Baptista et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurodiagnostics in Sports: Investigating the Athlete’s Brain to Augment Performance and Sport-Specific Skills

Seidel-Marzi

Ragert

2020

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Enhancing performance levels of athletes during training and competition is a desired goal in sports. Quantifying training success is typically accompanied by performance diagnostics including the assessment of sports-relevant behavioral and physiological parameters. Even though optimal brain processing is a key factor for augmented motor performance and skill learning, neurodiagnostics is typically not implemented in performance diagnostics of athletes. We propose, that neurodiagnostics via non-invasive brain imaging techniques such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) will offer novel perspectives to quantify training-induced neuroplasticity and its relation to motor behavior. A better understanding of such a brain-behavior relationship during the execution of sport-specific movements might help to guide training processes and to optimize training outcomes. Furthermore, targeted non-invasive brain stimulation such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) might help to further enhance training outcomes by modulating brain areas that show training-induced neuroplasticity. However, we strongly suggest that ethical aspects in the use of non-invasive brain stimulation during training and/or competition need to be addressed before neuromodulation can be considered as a performance enhancer in sports.

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Aging and brain plasticity

Cited by 49 publications

References 8 publications

Preventive Electroacupuncture Ameliorates D-Galactose-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Pathology and Memory Deficits Probably via Inhibition of GSK3β/mTOR Signaling Pathway

Preventive Electroacupuncture Ameliorates D-Galactose-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Pathology and Memory Deficits Probably via Inhibition of GSK3β/mTOR Signaling Pathway

Bullying in Old Age: A Qualitative Study on Older Adults’ Perceptions About Being Bullied

Neurodiagnostics in Sports: Investigating the Athlete’s Brain to Augment Performance and Sport-Specific Skills

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