A brain atrophy is a breakdown of neurons or connections between them in an area of the brain. In rare cases, it affects the whole brain. A brain atrophy can cause loss of consciousness, impairment of the senses, centers for motor control or cognitive function. Brain injury, disorders and infections, including stroke, cerebral palsy, dementia, multiple sclerosis and AIDS, can cause brain atrophy.
Brain Injury
Brain injury, including stroke and cerebral palsy, can cause damage to nearly any part of the brain. Strokes commonly cause an atrophy of areas of the temporal lobe, responsible for object recognition, the hippocampus, which is involved in memory and the motor control centers. In 2008, Georgia neuroscientist Cesario Borlongan and his team received a National Institutes of Health grant of $6 million to conduct stem cell research on stroke victims and children born with cerebral palsy. The researchers hope that stem cell therapy can help regenerate injured brain tissue.
AIDS
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system that results from an infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The virus attacks healthy brain tissue. However, the drug cocktail commonly used to treat infections caused by HIV can help prevent brain atrophy, according to Åsa Mellgren, MD, from the Clinic of Infectious Diseases SÄS in Borås, Sweden. Mellgren and her team conducted a study of 53 men with high levels of a protein that normally causes brain damage in patients with an HIV infection. After one year of treatment with the drugs, the protein levels had fallen to normal levels in 49 of the 53 participants.
Huntington's Disease
Huntington's disease is a progressive genetic disorder that affects the muscle coordination centers in the brain and leads to cognitive decline and dementia. An overactive immune response in the bloodstream and the brain may be a trigger of the atrophy, reports University of Washington neurologist Thomas Moeller in the June 14, 2008 online edition of "Journal of Experimental Medicine." Moeller and his colleagues found that patients with Huntington's had increased levels of cytokines, immune-system signaling molecules, in their brain tissue.
Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative neurological condition that affects the brain's white and gray matters. At early stages of Alzheimer's, changes occur in the brain's white matter, the myelinated axons that function as communication wires between different "gray" areas of the brain, reports Kentucky neurobiologist Brian Gold in the June 2010 issue to "NeuroImage." At later stages, the brain's hippocampus literally shrinks because the signals entering this area are very weak.
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple schlerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that causes atrophy to the central nervous system, particularly motor control centers. Chemicals in the immune system destroy the brain's white matter. However, a research team from Washington University, Saint Louis, found that the protein CXCR4 that naturally helps infants and children develop white brain tissue may also assist in rebuilding neural connections in patients with MS and other neuronal degenerative diseases. The results of the studies were published in the June 2010 issue of "The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
References
- Stem Cell Therapy Studies For Stroke, Cerebral Palsy Prepare For Clinical Trials
- Science Daily: Drug Cocktail Stops Brain Damage Caused By HIV
- Science Daily: Huntington's Disease Linked To Overactive Immune Response In The Brain
- Science Daily: Alzheimer's Imaging Study Identifies Changes in Brain's White Matter
- Sicence Daily: Protein Lets Brain Repair Damage from Multiple Sclerosis, Other Disorders
