Fig. 2: The aged and shrunken brain. | Molecular Psychiatry

Fig. 2: The aged and shrunken brain.

From: The times they are a-changin’: a proposal on how brain flexibility goes beyond the obvious to include the concepts of “upward” and “downward” to neuroplasticity

Fig. 2

After a period of developmental neural refinement based on synaptic pruning, all organisms undergo non-pathological, cumulative, and irreversible synaptic deterioration as they age. Morphological changes in aged brains may be subtle as they are region-specific and often restricted to neuronal types or dendritic branches, usually resulting in synaptic strength deficits and some sort of brain shrinkage. Although synaptic corrosion in the elderly is usually associated with some level of cognitive decline, healthy aging is expected to be unrelated to any pathological problem. However, even for healthy aging, a small cognitive decline associated with synaptic pruning can be a burden in practice as it makes the individual less able to readily adapt to the surrounding environment.

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