BBC: A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences confirms the hypothesis that the parts of the brain that develop last tend to be the first to show signs of age-related decline. Moreover, two common forms of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia, appear to affect the same regions of the brain. The findings highlight the possible lifelong consequences of genetic and environmental factors that occur early in life. The information is encouraging, according to medical researchers, because a better understanding of the diseases' pathology could one day allow doctors to identify those most at risk and provide a means of treating them or possibly even preventing the diseases from ever developing.
