Dementia and the brain

What part of the brain could be affected by dementia? What is the life expectancy of someone with dementia? Are brain injuries linked to dementia? How to protect your brain from dementia?

The dementia brain tour The brain is incredibly complex and this section of our site contains a lot of information about how the brain is thought to function.

For more about how the brain works and the effects of dementia , see our set of videos below. Dementia is caused by damage to or loss of nerve cells and their connections in the brain. Instea tiny deposits of protein (Lewy bodies) are seen in the cerebral cortex, limbic system and brain stem.

Vascular dementia is cognitive impairment caused by damage to the blood vessels in the brain. It can be caused by vascular disease, a single stroke, or by several mini-strokes occurring over time. It is a long-term illness, that gets worse over time.

It can affect, the way, we do things, including emotional and motivational problems, along with our language.

During dementia , cells lose the ability to communicate with each other and eventually die. This loss of nerve cells causes the symptoms of dementia , for example memory loss, as the brain becomes unable to function in its usual way. What causes nerve cells to die in dementia is a hot topic for our research. HIV may damage the brain cells by damaging nerve cells with viral proteins or by infecting inflammatory cells in the brain and spinal cord. Dementia causes problems with thinking, memory, and reasoning.

It happens when the parts of the brain used for learning, memory, decision making, and language are damaged or diseased. Dementia is a general term for loss of memory and other mental abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life. It is caused by physical changes in the brain. But there are many other conditions that can cause symptoms of dementia , including some that are reversible, such as thyroid problems and vitamin deficiencies. Signs accruing and developing inside the brain are more significant, and may help to make a more formal determination of the type of dementia affecting the patient.

Brain imaging, such as MRI or PET scans, can reveal these signs and contribute to a more accurate diagnosis. These changes also make it difficult for people to perform basic daily activities. In most people, dementia causes changes in behavior and personality.

Dementia and the brain Professor Andy Blamire presents examples of brain scans from people affected by Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. From these scans, we can see that damage to the brain is much more severe in people with dementia than we would expect in normal ageing. Dementia is a disease that slowly takes over one’s healthy brain and functioning, affecting the brain on both a structural and chemical level.

Signs and symptoms of dementia result when once-healthy neurons (nerve cells) in the brain stop working, lose connections with other brain cells, and die. While everyone loses some neurons as they age, people with dementia experience far greater loss. Doctors may use brain scans to identify strokes, tumors, or other problems that can cause dementia. Play Over Cognitive Games.

Start Training Your Memory Now, Free Signup. The Memory Quiz Was Developed By Dr Gary Small of the UCLA Longevity Center.