Cerebral atrophy

As brain atrophy ( colloquially: brain shrinkage ) is called a gradual loss of brain substance. To some extent, a decrease of volume and mass of the brain with advancing age is normal to lose from the age of 20 about 50,000 to 100,000 brain cells each day. Only that go beyond those for the Altersmaß changes are referred to as brain atrophy. In the long term can lead to brain atrophy neurological deficits and progressive loss of cognitive performance. But there is no linear relationship between the degree of atrophy and reduced performance.

Classification

Often, especially the gray matter of the cerebral cortex forms back, it becomes thinner in this case, flatten and verplumpen the convolutions ( gyri ), the furrows ( sulci ) thus appear deeper and wider. The technical term for this is cortical atrophy.

If rather there is a reduction of white matter ( medulla ), this is fixable in the imaging at a magnification and coarsening of the ventricular system. Here there is a subcortical atrophy.

In addition to diffuse brain atrophy show some forms of dementia ( Frontotemporal Dementia ) a circumscribed, localized atrophy.

Causes

The causes are varied. It often occurs in the context of neurodegenerative disorders primarily for the degradation of brain matter. This group includes the dementia of the Alzheimer type, is based on the pathophysiological a deposit amyloid -containing plaques, Lewy body dementia with deposition of the characteristic Lewy bodies and Pick's disease, which is characterized by Pick inclusion bodies. On the other hand, repeated small infarcts and vascular changes to a predominantly subcortical loss of substance ( Binswanger disease ). Certain metabolic disorders ( leukodystrophy ) and some chronic infectious diseases (progressive paralysis ) are rare as causes. The brain atrophy also heard, however, the changes that occur in chronic alcohol abuse (see Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome). Even with advanced multiple sclerosis one that goes beyond the Altersmaß brain atrophy can sometimes be observed.