hippocampus

Tooth loss associated with brain shrinkage

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An interesting article titled “Associations of Dental Health With the Progression of Hippocampal Atrophy in Community-Dwelling Individuals: The Ohasama Study,” written by Satoshi Yamaguchi and et. al. appears in Neurology, published on Juy 5, 2023. The article sought to explore associations between the number of teeth present and hippocampal atrophy older patients 55 years and older in a longitudinal study. The hippocampus is part of the brain that is important for learning and memory. With Alzheimer’s disease, atrophy of the hippocampus is a common feature but other factors, such as periodontitis (gum disease) can be seen. The researchers were under the assumption that the association between dental health and hippocampal atrophy might be due to inflammation. Gum disease is a chronic inflammatory condition, and inflammation has been shown to damage the hippocampus. The study included 172 people with an average … Read more

Physical Causes of HPA Axis Hyperactivity and Smaller Hippocampus Volumes Linked to Depression in Multiple Sclerosis

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I found this new research to be quite interesting.   Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord become damaged.  Depression has been found to be present in nearly 50% of MS sufferers. It is clear though that the depression is not just a psychological reaction to having the disease.  This is because in patients the depression occurs and it has been found to not be related to how severe one’s MS is and it also can occur at different stages of MS. Recently researchers at UCLA have showed a physical cause for depression in those patients suffering from MS atrophy of a specific region of the hippocampus which is part of the brain. The researchers also found a relationship atrophy of the hippocampus and hyperactivity of the … Read more