Cerebral Atrophy: Is Your Brain Shrinking?
Symptoms, Causes, and Possible
Treatments for Brain Atrophy
Updated November 28, 2018
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Symptoms
The term cerebral means brain
and atrophy means loss of cells or shrinkage. When our brains
atrophy, the neurons, and their connections waste away and the brain is
literally getting smaller.
What Are the
Symptoms of Brain Atrophy?
Atrophy in the brain may cause seizures, dementia (including memory loss, executive functioning impairment, and behavior changes) and aphasia (difficulty
with expressing language or understanding it. Muscle weakness and hearing loss
can also be symptoms of brain atrophy and should be reported to your physician
for further investigation.
What Causes
Cerebral Atrophy?
Several different medical conditions can cause the
brain to atrophy, including Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, stroke, cerebral palsy, Huntington's disease, and some infections such
as AIDS and encephalitis.
What Parts of the
Brain Are Typically Affected by Atrophy in Dementia?
In Alzheimer's disease, the hippocampus, which helps form new memories,
and the cortex, which helps us think, plan and remember, are two areas that are
especially affected by atrophy. However, the whole brain shrinks as well.
Reduced brain volume can be seen on imaging studies which compare healthy
brains to those with atrophy present.
In frontotemporal dementia, the frontal and temporal
lobes generally see the most atrophy. Atrophy of these areas of the brain often
initially present as personality and behavior changes, whereas
Alzheimer's disease often initially affects memory.
A study sought to identify which areas of the brain
are generally more atrophied in Lewy body dementia. Researchers found that the
midbrain, hypothalamus and substantia innominata were generally the areas with
the most atrophy. Being able to establish a pattern of where the atrophy is
concentrated can potentially assist in correctly diagnosing the type of dementia.
In vascular dementia, the amount and location of
the atrophy vary depending on whether there is a specific area that is affected
by a stroke, for example, or multiple small
blockages which are correlated with an overall reduced volume of the brain.
Brain atrophy is also present in Huntington's disease. Interestingly, research
has found that locations and degrees of brain atrophy vary in Huntington's.
In Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, atrophy also varies
significantly, with some cases showing almost no atrophy at all and others
developing some generalized atrophy in the overall brain volume.
What Is
'Age-Related Atrophy'?
As people age, a small amount of brain atrophy is
expected. Thus, you might hear the doctor explain your MRI scan as showing "age-related
atrophy." One study found that in healthy participants without dementia
between the ages of 60-91, some amount of brain atrophy developed in as little
as one year's time.
Does Brain Atrophy
Mean that Dementia Is Likely to Develop Soon?
It's important to know that while significant brain
atrophy is a sign of a problem, research supports the idea that age-related
brain atrophy does not necessarily mean that dementia is about to develop.
Scientists also concluded that the speed of atrophy is more of a factor than
the fact that some atrophy is present. In other words, if brain volume declines
more quickly than normal, this may indicate a concern.
Can Brain Atrophy
Be Prevented or Reversed?
Some research has shown that physical
exercise can reduce the speed of atrophy or even reverse some of the atrophy in
certain areas of the brain.
Other research suggests that supplementation with
vitamin B (including vitamin B12, folic acid, and vitamin B6) also helps slow
brain atrophy.
A correlation between cerebral atrophy and diet has
also been found in some research. For example, in one study, greater brain
atrophy (shrinkage) was found in participants who least followed the
Mediterranean diet.
A Word from
Verywell
While some causes of cerebral atrophy are outside
of our control, others may be impacted by our life choices. We at Verywell hope
that learning about these causes and risk reduction strategies will
encourage you on your journey towards good brain health.
I had a scan done in 2008, and it said that there was evidence of Cerebral atrophy and TIA, etc, but nothing was explained, until we asked our family doctor what it all meant.
He said it was brain shrinkage, but was not age related
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I always say that we may have this illness, but we are all so different.
This is my own daily problems, but I would gladly share anyone elses, if they send them in,