Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 May;2(3):175-95.
doi: 10.1177/2040622311399145.

Cognitive dysfunction with aging and the role of inflammation

Arthur A Simen  1 , Kelly A Bordner, Mark P Martin, Lawrence A Moy, Lisa C Barry
Affiliations

Cognitive dysfunction with aging and the role of inflammation

Arthur A Simen et al. Ther Adv Chronic Dis. 2011 May.

Abstract

As the average lifespan continues to climb because of advances in medical care, there is a greater need to understand the factors that contribute to quality of life in the elderly. The capacity to live independently is highly significant in this regard, but is compromised by cognitive dysfunction. Aging is associated with decreases in cognitive function, including impairments in episodic memory and executive functioning. The prefrontal cortex appears to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of advancing age. Although the mechanism of age-related cognitive decline is not yet known, age-related inflammatory changes are likely to play a role. New insights from preclinical and clinical research may give rise to novel therapeutics which may have efficacy in slowing or preventing cognitive decline with advancing age.

Keywords: aging; cognitive dysfunction; elderly; inflammation; quality of life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest in preparing this manuscript.

References

    1. Aalami O.O., Fang T.D., Song H.M., Nacamuli R.P. (2003) Physiological features of aging persons. Arch Surg 138: 1068–1076 - PubMed
    1. Abraham J., Johnson R.W. (2009) Consuming a diet supplemented with resveratrol reduced infection-related neuroinflammation and deficits in working memory in aged mice. Rejuvenation Res 12: 445–453 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ackerman P.L., Rolfhus E.L. (1999) The locus of adult intelligence: Knowledge, abilities, and nonability traits. Psychol Aging 14: 314–330 - PubMed
    1. Adair J.C., Knoefel J.E., Morgan N. (2001) Controlled trial of N-acetylcysteine for patients with probable Alzheimer's disease. Neurology 57: 1515–1517 - PubMed
    1. Aisen P.S., Davis K.L., Berg J.D., Schafer K., Campbell K., Thomas R.G., et al. (2000) A randomized controlled trial of prednisone in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study. Neurology 54: 588–593 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources