I believe we all want to live a full life with the ability to do what we want when we grow older. However, our brains have a part of our overall health. The brain ages until its mid-20s and then stabilizes. Over time, other aging factors in our bodies create havoc with our brains and opens the door for many brain-related diseases.
Your brain is like any other organ in your body. It grows old also. It shrinks as it ages. Your brain can start shrinking as early as 30 years of age. Additionally, other things begin to occur:
● Cortical thinning
● Impaired serotonin
● Reduction of acetylcholine
● Dopamine receptor binding and signaling difficulties
● Accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles
● Imbalances of various brain metabolites
However, all brains are not alike. They respond differently to the same stimuli. Some stimuli are:
● Oxidative stress
● Chronic low-level inflammation
● Free radical damage
● Hormone imbalance
● Endothelial dysfunction
● Excess body weight
● Suboptimal nutrition
● Lifestyle
● Expectations
● Prescription drug interference
● Oxygen levels
As your brain ages, your normal brain function begins to fall apart. Those things include:
● Deterioration of neuronal membranes
● Deterioration of mitochondrial membranes
● Loss of cellular integrity
● Impaired neural function
● Neurotransmitter synthesis and signaling damage
● Loss of synaptic density
● Loss of synaptic plasticity
● Loss of myelinated axon length
● Neuron death
● Reductions in the number of synaptic spines
● Reductions in the cortical thickness
● Reductions in the subcortical volume
These factors lead to brain function inefficiency and impairment over your lifetime. Can you do anything to maintain your current brain age? I believe the answer is, “Yes”.