Loss of Brain Tissue in Older Women May Be Linked to Air Pollution

Wake Forest: Researchers may have discovered a link between the loss of brain tissue and air pollution. Their research appears in the June 15 issue of the Annals of Neurology. The findings could help explain how the brain ages and functions in older women who lived in regions with greater airborne levels of coarse particles.


Using data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS), researchers found that older women who lived in these regions, such as found near roadways and dusty industries, had smaller regions of the brain that are related to memory and attention.

Casanova said these differences could not be explained by other factors related to brain health. He said this relationship may help to explain why rates of cognitive decline in older women vary across the country.

The WHIMS study began in 1996 at Wake Forest Baptist for the purpose of studying how postmenopausal hormone treatment affects cognitive impairment and brain aging.