4 ms·

> Specifically, those with preclinical Alzheimer's tended to drive more slowly, make abrupt changes, travel less at night, and logged fewer miles overall, for e

by spockz 5y ago

> Specifically, those with preclinical Alzheimer's tended to drive more slowly, make abrupt changes, travel less at night, and logged fewer miles overall, for example. They also visited a smaller variety of destinations when driving, sticking to slightly more confined routes. I wonder what the direction of the causality is. Maybe there is something else that triggers the slow driving. Visiting the same destinations regularly instead of varying ones might also just point to a very routine lifestyle. Maybe that contributes to Alzheimer’s a lot? It feels a stretch to use these attributes as casuals for attribution of Alzheimer’s.

bachmeier 5y ago
I think the goal is only to have an early warning of medical issues, rather than finding a causal effect and preventing the issues.
- mannykannot 5y ago
  Without the measured changes being caused by Alzheimer's, it is unlikely they will have any specificity. On the other hand, the results reported here give at least circumstantial evidence for this causality.
kortex 5y ago
There have been some interesting findings in aging studies (e.g. the 90+ study [0]) that suggest some people who have all the physiological signs of Alzheimers, but show no symptoms of dementia. I suspect the arrow goes: X -> brain degradation brain degradation -> cognitive decline cognitive decline -> driving bad brain degradation -> post-mortem Alzheimers diagnosis The loose link there is the path from brain degradation to cognitive decline. The 90+ findings (plus other findings on TBI and plasticity) suggest that by maintaining high plasticity through brain assaults (old age, trauma), it seems the brain can "route around damage" and remain comparatively functional. [0] The 90+ study: https://mind.uci.edu/research-studies/90plus-study/ https://mind.uci.edu/research-studies/90plus-study/ 60 Minutes on Superagers - Video + Transcript: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/long-life-retirement-community-60-minutes-2020-11-22/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/long-life-retirement-community-...
- spockz 5y ago
  > [0] The 90+ study: https://mind.uci.edu/research-studies/90plus-study/ https://mind.uci.edu/research-studies/90plus-study/ This plasticity idea is really neat. Anecdotal and I don’t know the correlation holds up, but my one grandmother was very set in her habits and particularly mindset and died early of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. My other grandmother is flexible of mind and is still kicking it at 90+. I’m wondering which way the causality goes. Whether there is something physical which makes people more open minded and wandering whereas others are more closed which eventually leads to more brain diseases. So in the end the open mindedness / flexibility is just another indirect indicator.

by spockz 5y ago

bachmeier 5y ago

I think the goal is only to have an early warning of medical issues, rather than finding a causal effect and preventing the issues.

mannykannot 5y ago
Without the measured changes being caused by Alzheimer's, it is unlikely they will have any specificity. On the other hand, the results reported here give at least circumstantial evidence for this causality.

kortex 5y ago

There have been some interesting findings in aging studies (e.g. the 90+ study [0]) that suggest some people who have all the physiological signs of Alzheimers, but show no symptoms of dementia. I suspect the arrow goes: X -> brain degradation brain degradation -> cognitive decline cognitive decline -> driving bad brain degradation -> post-mortem Alzheimers diagnosis The loose link there is the path from brain degradation to cognitive decline. The 90+ findings (plus other findings on TBI and plasticity) suggest that by maintaining high plasticity through brain assaults (old age, trauma), it seems the brain can "route around damage" and remain comparatively functional. [0] The 90+ study: https://mind.uci.edu/research-studies/90plus-study/ https://mind.uci.edu/research-studies/90plus-study/ 60 Minutes on Superagers - Video + Transcript: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/long-life-retirement-community-60-minutes-2020-11-22/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/long-life-retirement-community-...

spockz 5y ago
> [0] The 90+ study: https://mind.uci.edu/research-studies/90plus-study/ https://mind.uci.edu/research-studies/90plus-study/ This plasticity idea is really neat. Anecdotal and I don’t know the correlation holds up, but my one grandmother was very set in her habits and particularly mindset and died early of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. My other grandmother is flexible of mind and is still kicking it at 90+. I’m wondering which way the causality goes. Whether there is something physical which makes people more open minded and wandering whereas others are more closed which eventually leads to more brain diseases. So in the end the open mindedness / flexibility is just another indirect indicator.