Understanding Brain Aging and Dementia

440 Pages·2015·7.159 MB·English

by  Lawrence J. Whalley

U N D E R S TA N D I N G
A LIFE COURSE APPROACH
LAWRENCE J. WHALLEY
UNDERSTANDING
BRAIN AGING
AND DEMENTIA

UNDERSTANDING
BRAIN AGING
AND DEMENTIA
A LIFE COURSE APPROACH
LAWRENCE J. WHALLEY
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS(cid:2)NEW YORK
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2015 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Whalley, Lawrence J., author.
Understanding brain aging and dementia : a life course approach /
Lawrence Whalley.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-231-16382-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-16383-5
(pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-53637-0 (ebook)
I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Aging. 2. Brain—growth & development.
3. Dementia—prevention & control. WM 220]
RC521
616.8ʹ3—dc23
2014036252
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent
and durable acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover image: © Science Photo Library/Corbis
Cover design: Adam Bohannon
Book design: Lisa Hamm
References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs
that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
TO
HELEN
•

A test of a people is how it behaves towards the old. It is easy
to love children. Even tyrants and dictators make a point of being
fond of children. But the affection and care for the old,
the incurable, the helpless are the true gold mines of a culture.
ABRAHAM J. HESCHEL, POLISH AMERICAN RABBI (1907–1972)
Youth is a gift of nature, but age is a work of art.
STANISLAW JERZY LEC, POLISH POET (1906–1966)

CONTENTS
List of Tables xvii
List of Illustrations xix
Prologue xxix
Acknowledgments xxxiii
1. INTRODUCTION
 1
2. THE LIFE COURSE APPROACH
18
3. THE WELL-CONNECTED BRAIN
45
4. EVOLUTION, AGING, AND DEMENTIA
 75
5. THE AGING BRAIN
107
6. THE BIOLOGY OF THE DEMENTIAS
134
7. THE DISCONNECTED MIND
163
8. EMOTIONAL AGING
207