This is how mild depression can erase your memory

For years, Scientists thought that cognitive aging followed a fairly uniform pattern. However, new research suggests that each brain ages differently and that biological, social and lifestyle factors can decisively influence this process.

Experts gathered at the annual meeting of the Society for Cognitive Neuroscience, held in Vancouver (Canada), have highlighted that Understanding how the brain ages requires analyzing much more data of those that have traditionally been used. Among them, aspects such as sleep quality, cardiovascular health, social environment or even religiosity.

Researcher Randy McIntosh, from Simon Fraser University (Canada), emphasizes that Aging is not just a biological process. “It’s also social,” he explains. Therefore, he points out that there is no single biomarker that indicates healthy brain agingbut a combination of multiple factors that interact with each other.

In this context, scientists are expanding their study methods. In addition to lab tests and brain scans, now they incorporate information about lifestyle habits or everyday experiences and use more representative samples of the population to obtain a more realistic view of the aging process.

Neuroscientist Audrey Duarte, from the University of Texas at Austin, says that in recent decades the way we study cognitive aging. As he explains, people were previously classified as simply young or old, but data shows that two 70-year-olds can have very different cognitive abilities.

For this reason, his team investigates not only genetic factors, but also those aspects that can be modified throughout life and that help maintain the resilience of the brain. For this They have launched a study with more than 300 participants between 18 and 75 years old, from different racial and cultural backgrounds.

Among the first results of the project, it stands out that even mild levels of Depression can affect the brain’s executive functioning, a key process for memory. This effect could be greater in some population groups that have a higher prevalence of both depression and neurodegenerative diseases.

Another study linked to the project analyzed how depressive symptoms influence memory. Researchers observed that people with depression have more difficulty ignoring irrelevant or contradictory information, which ends up affecting their ability to remember.

In addition to mental health, scientists have identified other factors that can strengthen cognitive resilience. These include social support, participation in religious communities, and lifestyle habits such as sleeping well.

Understanding how all these elements interact will allow us to create more precise models of brain aging and, in the future, design personalized strategies to prevent cognitive decline and improve quality of life as the years go by.