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  Understanding aging,
  safer treatments,
  preventing
  late-life illnesses.
  Across the Lifespan into Late Life
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  Understanding Alzheimer’s risk

  Two factors can increase a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a history of depression and mild cognitive impairment. How do these risk factors affect the brain? In brain scans of high-risk individuals, Dr. Ariel Graff measured amyloid-beta, an abnormal protein buildup, which is higher in people with Alzheimer’s. Those with both past depression and cognitive impairment had significantly more amyloid-beta than those with cognitive impairment only. The next step is to determine if people with both develop Alzheimer’s in later years.
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  Safer treatment for Alzheimer’s agitation

  Agitation is a common and challenging symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. Antipsychotic medications are often used to manage agitation, but they but they increase the risk of death. A new study will investigate a safer approach to treating this agitation. Building on past research by Dr. Bruce G. Pollock, involving modelling of drug movement in the body, the multi-site trial will test a counselling and supportive care intervention, a generic antidepressant, or both.
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  Gambling problems in seniors

  Although seniors gamble less than other age groups, certain aspects of advancing age, such as cognitive declines and a fixed income, make the risks and consequences of problem gambling more serious. Yet casino trips from seniors’ centres are now routine entertainment. Drs. Nigel Turner, Robert Mann and colleagues are developing a set of evidence-based best practice tools to identify seniors at greatest risk of becoming problem gamblers, and treatments best suited to those in late life.
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  Functioning across the lifespan

  Learning, problem solving and other cognitive abilities in people with schizophrenia predict their ability to carry out everyday activities, such as managing finances or chores. But does aging affect this connection? A lifespan study of people aged 19 to 79 suggests not. Dr. Tarek Rajji showed that cognitive abilities were linked with functioning at every age, but aging did not affect the strength of this relationship. At any stage, therefore, treating the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia may improve functioning.
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  Aging informs illness

  A genetic chain of events that occurs with aging may provide insights into mental illnesses. Dr. Etienne Sibille has shown the functioning of a gene called brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) declines with age. In turn, this affects genes that regulate the brain’s chemical messengers or neurotransmitters. One effect is to decrease the function of “calming” or inhibitory neurotransmitters. This effect on calming neurotransmitters is similar to what occurs in mental illnesses, including depression and schizophrenia.
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  Epigenetics of aging

  Molecular changes that occur as we age may also shed insight into late-life illnesses. Dr. Art Petronis and his team investigated chemical “switches” called epigenetic factors that turn genes on or off. Until recently, the thinking was that the variation in epigenetic factors among people increased with age. The research shows that people actually become more alike, or lose their epigenetic uniqueness, in late life. This occurs much earlier in people with Alzheimer’s disease, which points to a new avenue to investigate late-life illnesses.

  CAMH Research