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Brains lose firmness as they age, researchers say

By Ryan Maass
Scientists say they now have a consistent method of measuring cortical folding in human brains. Photo by Newcastle University.
Scientists say they now have a consistent method of measuring cortical folding in human brains. Photo by Newcastle University.

NEWCASTLE, England, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Brain tissue loses firmness and elasticity as it ages in a similar way skin does, an international research team found in a recent study.

Scientists from Newcastle University in Britain and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil collaborated on the investigation. The team focused on folds within the human brain and how they change with age, and say their findings can pave the way for new treatments to address brain-related diseases. The research was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

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"By mapping the brain folding of over 1,000 people, we have shown that our brains fold according to a simple universal law. We also show that a parameter of the law, which is interpreted as the tension on the inside of the cortex, decreases with age," lead author Yujiang Wang explained in a press release.

Wang went on to add her team's findings shed new light on the damage associated with neurological ailments such as Alzheimer's disease. During the experiment, disruptions in cortical folding were more pronounced in subjects with the condition.

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"The next step will be to see if there is a way to use the changes in folding as an early indicator of disease," she said.

The study builds on previous scholarship that established brains fold in the same way in all mammals. The team also observed substantial differences between the brains of males and females, noting discrepancies in size, surface area and degree of folding. Female brains tend to be less folded than male brains of the same age. However, both follow the same laws identified in the experiment.

"This indicates that for the first time, we have a consistent way of quantifying cortical folding in humans," Wang concluded. "More work is needed in this area but it does suggest that the effect Alzheimer's disease has on the folding of the brain is akin to premature aging of the cortex."

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