Brain activity in youth could give rise to Alzheimer's disease
[2 September 2005 - Record - Washington University in St. Louis] Using five different medical imaging techniques to study the brain activity of 764 people, including those with Alzheimer's disease, those on the brink of dementia, and healthy individuals, University researchers have found that the areas of the brain that young, healthy people use when daydreaming are the same areas that fail in people who have Alzheimer's disease. On the basis of their data, the researchers are proposing a hypothesis that Alzheimer's disease may be due to abnormalities in the regions of the brain that operate the "default state." This is the term used to describe the cognitive state people defer to when musing, daydreaming or thinking to themselves. ...