Memory Loss May Predict Alzheimer's Disease

A study being reported in the September 12, 2006, issue of Neurology, finds that adults over the age of 60 who complain of severe memory problems may actually be losing brain tissue. Despite scoring well on standard memory tests, the adults in the study who complained of significant memory loss were found to have loss of grey matter of about 3% on MRI brain scans. Patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (early Alzheimer's ) show about 4% loss of brain tissue in the same areas of the brain - the areas where memory is stored.

Diagnostic Tests---

Using the resources of the Brain Research Center at UCLA, this film illustrates the development of neuroscience, from its reliance on information from brain injuries and from autopsies, through to new insights discovered with electronic micro-scopes, EEG equipment, PET scans and MRI machines. These new means of exploring the brain have broadened and deepened the extent of research; each has its own uses and methodologies which are elaborated in the film. Throughout DISCOVERING THE HUMAN BRAIN: NEW PATHWAYS TO NEUROSCIENCE, examples of actual research that utilize current technology are presented, including a study on the role of mirror neurons in autism and the mapping of language areas of a patient prior to surgery on a brain tumor. Thus, this film provides students with an understanding of the methodology and power of current research in neuroscience.

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