Head injuries may worsen cognitive decline decades later
People who experienced head injuries in their 50s or younger score less than expected on cognitive tests at age 70, consistent with a study led by UCL researchers.
Head injuries didn't appear to contribute to brain damage characteristic of Alzheimer's disease but might make people more susceptible to dementia symptoms, consistent with the findings published in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.
Lead author Dr Sarah-Naomi James (MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL) said: "Here we found compelling evidence that head injuries in early or mid-life can have a little but significant impact on brain health and thinking skills within the future. it'd be that a head injury makes the brain more susceptible to, or accelerates, the traditional brain ageing process."
The study involved 502 participants of the UK's longest-running cohort study, the MRC National Survey of Health and Development Cohort, which has been following participants since their birth within the same week in 1946.
At age 53, they were asked 'Have you ever been knocked unconscious?' to assess whether or not they had ever suffered a considerable head injury; 21% of their sample had answered yes to the present question. then around age 70 (69-71), the study participants underwent brain scans (PET/MRI), and that they took a set of cognitive tests.
The participants had all completed standardised cognitive tests at age eight, therefore the researchers were ready to compare their results at age 70 with expected results that supported their childhood cognition and other factors like educational attainment and socioeconomic status.
The researchers found that 70-year-olds who had experienced a significant head injury quite 15 years earlier performed slightly worse than expected on cognitive tests for attention and quick thinking (a difference of two points, scoring 46 versus 48 on a 93-point scale). They also had smaller brain volumes (by 1%) and differences in brain microstructural integrity, in line with evidence from previous studies, which can explain the subtle cognitive differences.
The researchers didn't find any differences in levels of the amyloid protein, implicated in Alzheimer's disease, or other signs of Alzheimer's-related damage.
Dr James said: "It seems like head injuries can make our brains more susceptible to the traditional effects of ageing. we've not found evidence that a head injury would cause dementia, but it could exacerbate or accelerate some dementia symptoms."
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Joint senior author Professor Jonathan Schott (UCL Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) said: "This adds to a growing body of evidence linking head injury with brain health a few years later, with yet more reasons to guard the brain against injury wherever possible."
The researchers didn't have data on the frequency, severity or explanation for the top injuries, to ascertain if long-term impacts may need been even greater surely people. the teachers are continuing their research with this cohort to ascertain if neurodegeneration or cognitive decline continues in late life among those with past head injuries.
Joint senior author Professor Nick Fox (UCL Dementia Research Centre and UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL) added: "Serious head injury can have immediate devastating effects, but what's becoming increasingly clear is that less severe but repeated head injuries—such as those sustained in touch sports—can affect brain health a few years later.
"Our study shows that, even within the general population, a head injury sufficient to cause a loss of consciousness can subtly affect cognition in later life. it's never been more clear that we'd like to try to all we will guard our brains against injury throughout our lives."
The study was funded by Alzheimer's Research UK, the Medical Research Council (MRC) Dementias Platform UK, the Wolfson Foundation and therefore the Drake Foundation, and involved researchers at UCL, London School of Hygiene and Medicine, King's College London, University of Gothenburg and therefore the UK Dementia Research Institute.
Lauren Pulling, CEO of The Drake Foundation, which funds research on head impacts in sport, said: "These new findings increase the growing evidence base showing that head impacts can have tangible, long-term effects on the brain. With this in mind, and additionally, to further research, sport's governing bodies must note and use a common-sense approach to universally minimise players' risk of head injury, throughout from grassroots to elite levels."
Dr Susan Kohlhaas, Director of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "With many people around the world experiencing head injuries per annum, reducing the danger of sustaining these injuries should be a crucial public health goal. trying to find brain shrinkage and other signs of injury soon after a head injury, are important steps towards understanding how brain injury is said to brain health and long-term thinking and memory problems.
"As the UK's leading dementia research charity we are pleased to possess funded this research and these findings increase our understanding of the factors that affect the health of the brain. While head injuries are usually impossible to predict or avoid, there are steps that we will all fancy help keep our brains healthy as we age.
"That's why Alzheimer's Research UK has launched the thinkbrainhealth.org.uk campaign to interact people with this important aspect of their health and to form the general public more conscious of the items they will do to support their brain health."
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