You Must Remember This: The Aging Brain in the Boomer Years

A “senior moment.” Is it a normal part of aging or a result of trying to process too much competing information? Or both? How does our brain change in our 30s, 40s and beyond and when does a lack of recall signal a predisposition to cognitive dysfunction?

Researchers are making great progress in tracking changes in the brains of people with normal cognitive function and identifying genetic vulnerabilities and alterations in brain structure and function. Through the identification of new biomarkers combined with advances in brain imaging, researchers are better able to predict who will develop Alzheimer’s disease long before symptoms set in. The insights gained through the science of genetics may ultimately lead to the development of therapies to prevent Alzheimer’s and other dementias and better ways to track the effects of treatment in those with the disease.

On March 1, 2006, the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) held a luncheon discussion on the topic featuring Eric Reiman, MD, executive director of the Banner Alzheimer’s Disease Institute and clinical director of the Neurogenomics Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute at the University of Arizona, and Mony de Leon, Ed.D, professor of psychiatry and the director of the Center for Brain Health at NYU School of Medicine.

As part of AFAR’s quarterly scientists’–media luncheon series, we explore various topics related to the biology of aging featuring scientists from some of the leading academic institutions in the nation.

For more information about this research and a profile of Dr. Reiman’s research, please visit our consumer web site, Infoaging (http://www.infoaging.org). An interview with Dr. Reiman can be found at http://websites.afar.org/site/PageServer?pagename=IA_expert_reiman.

Funding for the media luncheon series was made possible through an unrestricted educational grant from Pfizer Inc.

Dr. Eric Reiman

Dr. Mony de Leon