In Brain, Social Networking Concepts Lend a Hand

By John M Grohol PsyD
June 27, 2008

In a fascinating bit of research, Stanford University researchers have discovered that a vital part of brain functioning — our neural hubs — might be a key into understanding Alzheimer’s. Neural hubs connect neural paths, which our brains use to communicate. Anything adversely affecting either the paths or the hubs could result in problems with not only our brain functioning, but our physical functioning as well.

Here’s what the researchers did and found:

“Each hub connects to several other hubs, and a signal chooses among several options to find the shortest path to its destination,” said Supekar. Social networking sites operate on similar principles. The Facebook example might be one of, “I’m friends with your cousin’s hairstylist - want to hang out?”

The researchers compared the path length and number of hubs between 21 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and 18 unaffected age- and gender-matched control subjects. They discovered that, although the path lengths of signals in the resting brain were similar among all study subjects, the people with Alzheimer’s disease had fewer functional hubs.

It’s like taking the hairstylist out of the mix in the Facebook example — you might still be able to get to the same person quickly (because you also know her brother’s girlfriend), but the nature of the background chatter, and number and type of potential relationships that could occur, might be quite different.

Not enough hubs, and voilà, your brain’s functioning might be seriously impaired.

“These regional connections appear to be compromised in people with Alzheimer’s,” said Greicius, who speculated that the deficit may continue to worsen as the disease progresses. A breakdown of regional connectivity and the resulting less-than-optimal conversation that occurs between neurons may explain the memory loss and confusion that are the hallmark of the disorder.

These findings may help future scientists or doctors more quickly identify Alzheimer’s-prone individuals by testing the number of active hubs that are functioning in a person. They’re close already…

The researchers found that, using a test they devised, they could correctly identify patients with Alzheimer’s disease about 72 percent of the time and identify those who didn’t have the disease about 78 percent of the time. While these numbers are good, they’re not good enough yet to use as a screening test.

Read the full article: Social Networking Concepts Aid Alzheimer Research

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues, and the intersection of technology and psychology since 1992.