How Big Is Your Brain? Its Size May Protect You from Memory Loss

CHICAGO, April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- From autopsies, researchers have
long known that some people die with sharp minds and perfect memories, but
their brains riddled with the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer's disease. New
research shows that those people have a larger part of the brain called the
hippocampus. The research will be presented at the American Academy of
Neurology 60th Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12 - April 19, 2008.

"This larger hippocampus may protect these people from the effects of
Alzheimer's disease-related brain changes," said study author Deniz
Erten-Lyons, MD, with Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, and
member of the American Academy of Neurology. "Hopefully this will lead us
eventually to prevention strategies."

For the study, researchers evaluated the brains of 12 people who had sharp
memories and thinking skills at the time of death, but whose autopsies showed
a high amount of Alzheimer's plaques. Their brains were compared to those of
23 people who had the same amount of plaques in their brains, but had been
diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease before death.

Researchers found the volume of the hippocampus part of the brain was 20
percent greater in the cognitively intact group compared to the Alzheimer's
disease group with dementia. There were no other demographic, clinical or
pathological differences between the groups and the results remained the same
regardless of gender, age, and total brain volume.

The study was supported by grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs and
the National Institute on Aging.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 21,000
neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient
care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with
specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the
brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, multiple
sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and stroke. For more information about the
American Academy of Neurology, visit www.aan.com.

SOURCE American Academy of Neurology

Angela Babb, +1-651-695-2789, ababb@aan.com, or Rachel Seroka,
+1-651-695-2738, rseroka@aan.com, both of American Academy of Neurology, or
AAN Press Room 179B (April 12-18): +1-312-791-7053