Involutional and developmental implications of age-related neuronal changes: in search of an engram for wisdom

doi:10.1016/0197-4580(87)90145-X

Neurobiology of Aging

Volume 8, Issue 6, November–December 1987, Pages 581-583

https://doi.org/10.1016/0197-4580(87)90145-X Get rights and content

Abstract

The changes in neuronal size and number that occur with aging can be viewed from a developmental rather than an involutional perspective. According to this speculative vantage point, age-related neuronal attrition need not lead to intellectual decline and may, instead, represent a progressive fine-tuning of cerebral networks.

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Cited by (7)

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Citation Excerpt :
With respect to the timing of these declines, an important feature of aging is that these declines really do not begin until after sexual maturation.9 This is significant because it raises the importance of reproduction and evolution to the meaning of aging and its potential relationship to wisdom.10 The connection of molecular and cellular decline with reproduction and evolution makes me ask not what is aging, but why is there aging and could it be adaptive for wisdom?
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Regionally specific loss of neurons in the aging human hippocampus
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New highly-accurate stereological methods for estimating the total numbers of neurons in brain structures have been used to test for age-related neuron loss in the human hippocampal formation. Across the age range of 13 to 85 years, there was a substantial loss of neurons in the subiculum (52%) and in the hilus of the dentate gyrus (31 %); the three remaining hippocampal subdivisions showed no significant change. These losses qualify as potential morphological correlates of senescent decline in relational memory in that they can be expected to compromise the functional integrity of a region of the brain known to be intimately involved in this type of memory. The regional pattern of neuron loss is similar in certain respects to the patterns of cell loss seen during the initial phases of ischemia and epilepsy and is fundamentally different from the pattern associated with Alzheimer's disease.
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Forty-eight healthy volunteers were administered a computerized battery of “ecological” memory tests simulating real life everyday tasks and actions such as recalling people’s names or telephone numbers. The group was dichotomized according to recent criteria proposed by a NIMH study group. Younger individuals (below 50 years of age) always showed better performances than those over 50. Although the learning curves were significantly lower for the older subgroup, the forgetting rate did not differ, suggesting that most of the memory complaints of the elderly might be attributable to the initial encoding phase of the memorizing activity rather than to a retrieval problem. It seems that easy distractability and inefficient strategic elaboration of incoming information are also, at least in part, responsible for the memory problems associated with normal aging.This article reports preliminary findings of a normative and representative Italian population sample.
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Introduction to language intervention strategies in adult aphasia
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CommentaryInvolutional and developmental implications of age-related neuronal changes: in search of an engram for wisdom

Abstract

Neurobiol Aging

Normative observations on neuropsychological test performances in old age

J Clin Neuropsychol

Organization of the cerebral cortex III. A study of aging in the human cerebral cortex

J Comp Neurol

Commentary
Involutional and developmental implications of age-related neuronal changes: in search of an engram for wisdom