As we age, it becomes harder and harder to recall names, dates-even where we put down our keys. Although we may fear the onset of Alzheimer’s, chances are, our recollective powers have dulled simply because we’re getting older-and our brains, like our bodies, are no longer in tip-top shape. But what is it that actually causes memory and other cognitive abilities to go soft with senescence? Previous research has shown that bundles of axons (tubular projections sent out by neurons to signal other nerve cells) wither over time. These conduits, collectively referred to as white matter, help connect different regions of the brain to allow for proper information processing. Now, researchers have found that these white matter pathways erode as we age, impairing communication or ‘cross talk” between different brain areas. ‘What we were looking at was the communication or cross talk between different regions of the brain,’ says study co-author Jessica Andrews-Hanna, a Harvard University graduate student. ‘The degree to which white matter regions are actually stable predicts the degree to which other regions are able to communicate with each other.’ Andrews-Hanna and other Harvard researchers (along with collaborators at the University of Michigan at […]