New research has emerged that reveals a specific brain network – that is the last to develop and the first to show signs of neurodegeneration – is more vulnerable to unhealthy aging as well as to disorders that emerge in young people, shedding light on conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia.

Share on Pinterest Grey matter in the brain – a network of nerve cells that coordinate information from different senses – develops last and degenerates first, shedding light on Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia, researchers say.

The researchers – led by Dr. Gwenaëlle Douaud at the Oxford University Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB) Centre in the UK – say their work sheds light on potential genetic and environmental factors that may occur early in life, causing lifelong consequences.

They publish their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team focused on grey matter in the brain – a network of nerve cells that coordinate information from different senses.

This area does not develop until late adolescence or early adulthood, they say, and it is linked with both intellectual capacity and long-term memory – mental abilities that become impaired in people with schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s disease.

A theory from the 1880s – known as the “retrogenesis” theory of brain change – proposed that brain ability declines in reverse order to how it develops in humans and in evolutionary terms (for example, humans and chimpanzees evolving from a common ancestor).

Following these lines, the researchers used a “data-driven” approach to study age-related changes. So, instead of looking for a certain pattern in brain changes in a specific brain location, the team analyzed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of 484 people – ranging in age from 8-85 years – to see what patterns were revealed.