Gene expression changes that appear during normal brain aging have been explored using microarrays that interrogate only part of the genome in a number of species, including mice, rats, monkeys, and humans [4], [5], [6], [7].
Electrophysiological markers of brain aging have been extensively characterized in the hippocampal formation (Landfield & Pitler, 1984; Moyer et al., 1992; Barnes, 1994; Thibault et al., 1998; Norris et al., 1998; Disterhoft et al., 2004; Burke & Barnes, 2006), a region well-established to be important for memory processes and highly vulnerable to deleterious/degenerative changes with aging.
19 The trajectory of cognitive decline due to ongoing pathological insults to the brain ("pathological aging") has been shown to deviate from the normal aging process.
Healthy aging has been associated with stable emotional well-being and attenuated brain responses to negative stimuli.
Notably, one major flaw of the studies examining changes in brain structure with age has been the modeling of brain volume loss over the life span without taking into account hormonal changes in men and women over time.
Previously, altered brain development at term-equivalent age has been detected in preterm infants (Volpe 2009).
The importance of investment in quality ECCE services cannot be overstated; for the amazing amount of brain development that occurs before primary school age has been underestimated or even ignored.
Alignment of child brains to an adult template after this age has been validated by several studies revealing negligible differences in anatomical loci and functional activation peaks of adults and children aged 7 years and older (Burgund et al., 2002; Kang, Burgund, Lugar, Petersen, & Schlaggar, 2003; Muzik, Chugani, Juhász, Shen, & Chugani, 2000).
Interestingly, increased levels of AGEs have been observed in brains of Alzheimer's disease patients.
Brain Age 2 also uses the same Sudoku engine, an addition in the original Brain Age that has been applauded for being one of the best handheld Sudoku games available; Brain Age 2s rendition of Sudoku introduces 100 new puzzles.
