| Neuroscientist Miia Kivipelto’s life’s work has been about preventing dementia. Now, at 52, she has begun thinking more about her own vulnerability. “Midlife is the time,” said Kivipelto, a neuroscientist who recently joined the Yale School of Nursing as the inaugural director of its Center for Aging Well in New Haven, Connecticut. “It’s the last best chance to lower risk.” The idea that dementia prevention may hinge on what people do in their mid-30s to their 60s is rapidly reshaping the field. Scientists increasingly believe the disease is driven not only by changes in the aging brain, but also by years of metabolic stress, inflammation and vascular damage accumulating across the body. Many researchers now think the biological process that leads to dementia begins 15 to 20 years before the first memory problems emerge. By the time symptoms become noticeable, the disease likely will already be well established. Neuroscientists now see midlife as a critical window when the brain becomes especially vulnerable to aging — but also more responsive to intervention. The implications are profound: The ordinary habits of middle age may matter far more than scientists once realized, and cognitive decline may not be inevitable. |
