MRIs are formal.
The brain ages as time passes, it is a natural fact. According to a study published in “Nature Aging” in 2024, our brain would undergo three aging waves, the first of which would start well before 50 years. To achieve this conclusion, researchers from the University of Zhengzhou in China analyzed the concentration of around 3,000 proteins present in blood plasma of nearly 5,000 British aged 45 to 82. They realized that 13 proteins linked to brain aging formed three peaks linked to specific ages: 57, 70 and 78 years.
In reality for Dr. Christophe de Jaeger, doctor’s doctor and researcher specializing in aging, things are a little more complicated when it comes to aging since two aspects come into play: “thought and functional capacities “. As he explains to us “he is possible to measure brain conduction speeds, brain volume, etc. But thought is intangible “. Above all, thought continues to mature throughout our lives. “You can have an altered brain and a very rich thought. This is the reason why some people aged 80 give the impression of having a brain age 20 years when they are expressed”continues the doctor.
“For the time being, there is no consensus as to the age at which the brain begins to age. Some researchers believe that this process begins from 30 years old, others from 20 years.” However, if you look at the brain objectively on brain MRIs, its morphology begins to alter itself from the age of 20. Much earlier than you often think. “The assessment of functional capacities is based on the measurement of a parameter called the potential evoked cognitive (PEC) which reflects by simplifying the speed at which the nerve impulse will circulate in the cortical part of the brain, where there are neurons. This process decreases from 16 years and worse in life, especially in the event of neurodegenerative diseases” informs the aging specialist.
Finally, there is also the age felt. After 50 years, it is not uncommon to feel as if we were 15 years younger but it is not true. When we get older, we learn to manage, which gives us the illusion that our brain works well. When the brain begins to malfunction, MCIs, that is to say the alterations of very moderate cognitive functions, occur. This is a real start, not senescence, but of pathology that requires consulting.
Thank you to Dr. Christophe de Jaeger, doctor’s doctor and researcher specializing in aging, author of aging well without drugs from 40 years old (ed. Seeking noon).
