Myth: Brain plasticity has no effect on how dementia progresses.
Truth: This is false.
Dementia is characterized by memory loss and progressive deterioration of cognitive skills. As dementia is incurable and affects over a million individuals worldwide, research has investigated whether brain plasticity has the potential to slow the progressive nature of dementia when it is diagnosed.
A Toronto study in JAMA Psychiatry published findings that suggest brain plasticity in the frontal lobe reported higher recalls on a memory test. Dementia is often linked to affecting the frontal lobe, thus hindering a person’s ability to store and recall information and tasks as the disease progresses. This study suggests that improving plasticity within the frontal lobe has the potential to delay dementia’s progressive nature. To read more about dementia and frontal lobe plasticity, click here.
Reference
- Kumar S, Zomorrodi R, Ghazala Z, et al. Extent of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex plasticity and its association with working memory in patients with Alzheimer disease. JAMA Psychiatry. 2017;74(12):1266-1274. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.3292
