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A new study has found that some people’s brains are able to compensate for a number of degenerative brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
Study unveils that the brain’s response to some disorders is not the same in all people, according to the report published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Researchers from the University of California suggest that the brains of some people affected with the disease are able to avert the buildup of beta-amyloid, a destructive protein associated with Alzheimer's disease.
Analyzing of 22 healthy young adults and 49 older adults with no signs of mental decline shows that the brains recruit extra nerve power to help maintain their brain activity.
Brain scans showed 16 of the older ones had amyloid deposits which are associated with Alzheimer's disease.
All participants were asked to memorize pictures of various scenes while scanners were used to track their brain activity.
Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor the brain activity in the process of memorizing.
The observation indicated that though both groups performed equally well, those ones with tangles of amyloid in their brains appeared to have more brain activity when remembering the images in detail.
“Their brains have an ability to adapt to and compensate for any early damage caused by the protein,” scientists say.
"I think it is very possible that people who spend a lifetime involved in cognitively stimulating activity have brains that are better able to adapt to potential damage," said the study researcher Dr William Jagust.
"Longer term studies are needed to confirm whether the extra brain activity seen in this research is a sign of the brain compensating for early damage, and if so, how long the brain might be able to fight this damage," Dr Laura Phipps, at the charity Alzheimer's Research UK commented on the study.
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