Stressful life experiences 'can age brain by several years'

Stressful life experiences and events including divorce or the death of a family member, can age the brain by several years, new research suggests.

Experts led by a team from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in the US found that even one major stressful event early in life may have an impact on later brain health.

The team examined data for 1320 people who reported stressful experiences over their lifetime and underwent neuropsychological tests in areas such as thinking and memory.

The tests examined several areas including four memory scores - immediate memory; verbal learning and memory; visual learning and memory; and story recall.

Those taking part were aged 58 on average and included 1,232 whites and 82 African Americans.

Stressful life experiences included things such as losing a job, the death of a child, divorce or growing up with a parent who abused alcohol or drugs.

The results showed that a larger number of stressful events was linked to poorer cognitive function in later life.

When looking specifically at African Americans, the team found they experienced over 60% more stressful events than white people during their lifetimes.

Researchers said that, in African Americans, each stressful experience was equivalent to approximately four years of cognitive ageing.

The study, was presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in London.

The stressful events that the researchers were focusing on were a large variety ... the death of a parent, abuse, loss of a job, loss of a home... poverty, living in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, divorce,said Dr Maria Carrillo, chief science officer for the UK Alzheimer's Association.

She said that even a change of school could be regarded as a stressful life event for some children.

Other research has suggested there are plausible links between stress and chronic inflammation, which in turn may accelerate the development of dementia.

But experts believe that a health lifestyle and a healthy diet can help mitigate this risk, even for those people going through stressful events.