MRI Brain Scanner to Aide Research
MRI brain scanner to aide research
We know that cigarette smoking is associated with lung disease and heart disease but the effects on the brain are less well known. There is some evidence that smoking may affect thinking skills in older people and might increase risk of dementia, but there was no information on whether some brain damage might recover if people stop smoking.
Fortunately we are now closer to finding out the answers, by research carried out by the University of Edinburgh and the Montreal Neurological Institute.
Using the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) research scanner at the Brain Research Imaging Centre (BRIC), which is part of Neuroimaging Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, we were able to analyse brain images that measured the brain’s cortical thickness (the grey cells that do the thinking), in a group of people aged 73 years, who are members of the Lothian Birth Cohort (LBC1936).
Can the brain recover after stopping smoking?
Evidence suggests that smokers have, on average, slightly poorer thinking, memory and perception functioning in older age. By measuring the thickness of the brain’s cortex (the ‘little grey cells’), researchers can report on the neurodegenerative processes.
By examining the brain’s cortical thickness in the LBC1936 volunteers, researchers were able to assess their current cortical thickness, and compare this with previously held data. Being aware of whether those volunteers had either never smoked, were now non-smokers or were still smokers, allowed further comparisons to be done. The results showed that smoking was associated with having a thinner cortex (fewer grey cells) in later life.
However, if the person had stopped smoking some years previously, then there was less thinning of the cortex and possibly some evidence that the cortex might even recover its thickness. The longer the time since stopping smoking, the thicker the cortex (and therefore the greater the number of grey / thinking cells). The potential to at least stop cortical thinning from getting worse by stopping smoking might serve as a strong motivational argument to encourage smoking cessation.
Smokers need to be informed that cigarettes lead to faster loss of grey cells, in other words faster ageing of the brain. This can lead to dementia or other brain diseases. Stopping smoking is worth it: the cortex of people who had stopped smoking did not decline so fast, and there could even have been some recovery - with complete cortical ‘catch up’ (equal thickness to those who have never smoked) achieved by 25 years after stopping smoking.
Professor Joanna Wardlaw, from Neuroimaging Sciences at the University of Edinburgh said “Our detailed brain imaging has shown that smoking damages the brain, just like it damages the lungs and heart. The damage is like speeding up the ageing process. Losing the grey cells over the surface of the brain from smoking is like peeling back the bark from a tree – in the case of the tree, this is a fast way of killing it – in the case of the person, losing the grey cells will affect the ability to think and remember important things. The high performance scanner is very important for this work. It too is ageing and we are raising money to buy a replacement to continue this important work.”
High resolution images needed for such research to continue
Scientists can only continue research to assess causes of cognitive decline and dementia, and more importantly to do something about it, by having the most effective brain scanners that produce the highest resolution images. These MRI scanners also provide detailed insights into diseases of the heart, blood vessels, lung and various types of cancer.
The Brain Research Imaging Centre is raising funds to put a high definition MRI scanner for research at the Royal Infirmary, next to A+E, at Little France. If you wish further information on this please click on link , or email .