Individual approach to brain aging
A group of researchers has proposed a new model for studying age–related cognitive decline – taking into account individual characteristics of a person, - writes UA News with reference to an article in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience (Ryan et al., Precision Aging: Applying Precision Medicine to the Field of Cognitive Aging).
According to Lee Ryan, professor and head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona, there is no such thing as a universal approach to brain aging. A number of studies have examined individual risk factors that may contribute to cognitive decline with age, such as chronic stress and cardiovascular diseases. However, these factors can affect different people differently depending on other variables, such as genetics and lifestyle, says Ryan.
In a new article, scientists advocate a more personalized approach using the principles of precision medicine in order to better understand, prevent and treat age-related cognitive decline.
"Aging is incredibly complex, and most of the research has focused on just one aspect of aging at a time," Ryan said. – We are trying to take the basic concepts of precision medicine and apply them to understanding aging in general and aging of the brain in particular… All people have different risk factors and different environmental conditions, and on top of all this are individual differences in genetics. You have to put all these things together to predict how a particular person will experience the aging process. There is no one way to grow old."
Although most older adults – about 85% – will not suffer from Alzheimer's disease during their lifetime, some level of cognitive decline is considered a normal part of aging. According to Ryan, most people aged 60 and older experience some cognitive impairment.
This not only threatens the quality of life of older people, but also has socio-economic consequences that amount to hundreds of billions of dollars in health and care costs, as well as loss of productivity in the workplace, Ryan and her co-authors write.
Researchers set a high goal for themselves: to make it possible to preserve brain health throughout the life of an adult, which at the moment in the United States is a little more than 78 years old.
In their work, scientists present an accurate model of aging, which should be the starting point for future research. The focus is on three areas: broad risk categories, brain drivers, and genetic variants.
A model of personalized correction of age-related cognitive impairments. Figure from the article by Ryan et al. – VM.
An example of a risk category for age-related cognitive decline is cardiovascular health, which is directly related to brain health. The broader risk category includes several distinct risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.
The model then takes into account the driving forces of the brain, or the biological mechanisms by which individual risk factors in a category actually affect the brain. According to Ryan, this is an area in which existing research is particularly limited.
Finally, the model considers genetic variants that may increase or decrease the risk of age-related cognitive decline in humans. Despite people's best efforts to lead a healthy lifestyle, genes contribute to this process and cannot be ignored, says Ryan. For example, there are genes that reduce or increase the likelihood that a person will get diabetes, sometimes regardless of his diet.
Despite the fact that the exact aging model is under development, researchers believe that considering a combination of risk categories, brain drivers and genetic variants is the key to better understanding age-related cognitive decline and determining the most effective methods of medical intervention in different patients.
Ryan imagines a future in which you can go to your doctor's office and put all the information about your health and lifestyle into an app, which will then help medical professionals guide you along an individual path to maintaining brain health throughout your life. We haven't achieved that yet, but it's important to continue research into age-related cognitive decline, as advances in healthcare and technology can extend life span even further, she said.
"Children born in this decade probably have a 50% chance of life before the age of 100,– Ryan believes. – We hope that the research community will stop thinking about aging as a single process and recognize that it is complex, not universal. In order to really move research forward, we need to apply an individual approach."
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