The Aging Brain - Week by week time lapse

Female Speaker: The UHN Krembil Neuroscience Centre. The Aging Brain. Week by Week time lapse. An image of a grey tinted brain is shown with text reading: The human brain has grey matter on the surface. Then a transition to an image of the white matter or nerve fibers on the inside of the brain. As we age, the white matter degenerates and a comparison of two MRI images of a 25- and 75-year-old brain are shown. Originally, doctors thought this degeneration was an unimportant part of aging. But then research showed it is associated with cognitive decline and dementia. What is the CAUSE of this white matter disease? We thought the cause might be tiny strokes. Each stroke could be small enough that the patient and doctor wouldn't notice it. But they could accumulate over many years and cause dementia. So... We recruited five adults who had white matter and we scanned their brains every week for 16 weeks to look for tiny, asymptomatic strokes. The MRI of the 75-year-old brain is shown with white matter. An MRI scan from Week #1 shows white matter disease. Then a superimposed MRI technique (DWI) is displayed showing strokes as they are occurring. A week to week time lapse of the DWI scans from Week 1 to 15 begins. Weeks 1 and 2 appear normal. The MRI scan of Week 3 appears with 2 tiny strokes on the left and right sides of the brain. MRI scans of Weeks 4 through 6 are shown but do not display any noticeable changes. A tiny stroke appears on the right side of the brain at Week 7. MRI scans of Week 8 do not display any noticeable changes. Another tiny stroke appears in the right side of the brain at Week 9. Weeks 10 through 11 are shown but do not display any noticeable changes. A tiny stroke appears in the upper region of the brain at Week #12. MRI scans of Weeks 13 through 15 are shown but do not display any noticeable changes. Week #15's MRI is shown. The study participants had no noticeable symptoms during the 16 weeks. If we zoom in on one of these tiny strokes... Two close ups of the strokes, one as a DWI scan, showing strokes as they are occurring. The other, with the MRI technique T2 that shows white matter disease. Then a time lapse from Week 1 to Week 15 is run showing the tiny strokes appearing during Week 10. Then, in transition to Week 16 the tiny strokes slowly disappear on the DWI scan. Over time, the evidence that there was a stroke has disappeared. And the new abnormality is indistinguishable from the white matter disease on the T2 scan. The study shows that tiny, unnoticed strokes are common, and are likely a cause of age-related disease in the white matter of the brain. Preventing these strokes may prevent white matter disease-related dementia. Research team led by Daniel Mandell, MD PhD with co-investigators John Conklin MD MSc, Frank Silver MD and David Mikulis MD Division of Neuroradiology Joint Department of Medical Imaging University Health Network, Toronto Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University Health Network, Toronto UHN Courage Lives Here.