Mather Mara, Harley Carolyn W
Davis School of Gerontology and Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada.
Trends Cogn Sci. 2016 Mar;20(3):214-226. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2016.01.001.
Research on cognitive aging has focused on how decline in various cortical and hippocampal regions influence cognition. However, brainstem regions play essential modulatory roles, and new evidence suggests that, among these, the integrity of the locus coeruleus (LC)-norepinephrine (NE) system plays a key role in determining late-life cognitive abilities. The LC is especially vulnerable to toxins and infection and is often the first place Alzheimer's-related pathology appears, with most people showing at least some tau pathology by their mid-20s. On the other hand, NE released from the LC during arousing, mentally challenging, or novel situations helps to protect neurons from damage, which may help to explain how education and engaging careers prevent cognitive decline in later years.
对认知衰老的研究主要集中在各个皮质和海马体区域的衰退如何影响认知。然而,脑干区域发挥着重要的调节作用,新证据表明,其中蓝斑(LC)-去甲肾上腺素(NE)系统的完整性在决定晚年认知能力方面起着关键作用。蓝斑特别容易受到毒素和感染的影响,并且往往是阿尔茨海默病相关病理出现的首个部位,大多数人在25岁左右时至少会出现一些tau蛋白病理。另一方面,在唤醒、智力挑战或新情境中从蓝斑释放的去甲肾上腺素有助于保护神经元免受损伤,这或许可以解释教育和从事有意义的职业如何预防晚年的认知衰退。