NEUROCHEMISTRY AND BRAIN FUNCTION IN AGING

即使是成功的正常衰老， 选择性认知功能障碍。 有脑损伤的迹象- 影像学上观察到的萎缩和高信号发生率增加 研究，脑血流变化，神经元丢失和密度 减少也伴随着老化。 到目前为止，试图预测认知 在老年人中，从神经影像学研究中只得到了 适度的关系。 使用非侵入性质子磁共振 正常人的1H-MRS和定量神经认知测试 年轻的对照组，我们展示了令人兴奋的初步数据， 认知功能与大脑皮层的神经化学事件密切相关。 神经元水平。 事实上，这些神经化学发现可以解释 高达70%的复合神经心理学的变异性， 测试结果 这些结果与其他研究结果一致。 我们最近研究的脑损伤患者群体：系统性狼疮 红斑和创伤性脑损伤 在目前的建议中，我们将使用一个完善的定量 额叶的磁共振成像和光谱检查 和枕叶的神经心理学测试 评估额叶和注意力过程， 从新墨西哥州大学招募的正常老年人老化过程 Study.我们最初的目标是证实， 额叶的大脑完整性预测大脑功能正常 老年人，额叶神经化学预测比枕叶更好 神经化学 我们的第二个目标是确定特定的正面 与额叶神经化学密切相关的技能。 我们的1H-MRS结果指标将包括N-乙酰天冬氨酸， 神经元标记物和胆碱，神经变性的标记物， 炎症 神经认知测试的主要结果指标 将是执行（正面）技能，注意力，口头和 非语言记忆和运动功能 全面衡量功能 大脑完整性也将根据z分数的合成来计算 从个人认知领域。

Even successful normal aging is associated with increasing brain dysfunction in selected cognitive domains. Signs of brain injury- increased atrophy and incidence of hyperintensities seen on imaging studies, cerebral blood flow changes, and neuronal loss and density decreases also accompany aging. To date, attempts to predict cognitive decline in the elderly, from neuroimaging studies have yielded only modest relationships. Using non-invasive proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) and quantitative neurocognitive testing in normal young controls, we show exciting preliminary data that variation in cognitive function is strongly related to neurochemical events at the neuronal level. Indeed, these neurochemical findings can account for up to 70 percent of the variability of composite neuropsychological testing results. These results are consistent with findings in other brain injured patient groups we have recently studied: systemic lupus erythematosus and traumatic brain injury. In the current proposal we will use a well established quantitative magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopic examination of the frontal and occipital lobes and a neuropsychological testing battery designed to assess frontal and attention processes to evaluate a cohort of 60 normal elderly recruited from the University of New Mexico Aging Process Study. It is our initial aim to confirm that neurochemical measures of brain integrity from the frontal lobe predict brain function in normal elderly, and that frontal neurochemistry predicts better than occipital neurochemistry. Our second aim is to determine the specific frontal skills most strongly related to frontal lobe neurochemistry. Our outcome measures from 1H-MRS will include N-acetylaspartate, a neuronal marker, and choline, a marker of neurodegeneration and inflammation. The major outcome measures from neurocognitive testing will be measures of executive (frontal) skill, attention, verbal and non-verbal memory, and motor function. An overall measure of functional brain integrity will also be calculated based on a composite of z-scores from individual cognitive domains.