EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Michigan State University Researchers published a study that relates the size of a portion of the brain to learning ability for older adults.

The study can be potentially useful with the earlier diagnosis of aging-related memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

The research shows the size or volume of the hippocampus with more intact limbic white matter could be a marker for learning in older people.

The hippocampus is a curved, seahorse-shaped structure embedded deep in the brain.

Limbic white matter is the neural circuitry that connects the hippocampus to the rest of the brain.

“Our findings highlight the need to measure not just the size of the hippocampus but also how well it’s connected to the rest of the brain when we look for physical markers of memory decline in older adults,” said Andrew Bender, lead author on the study and assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, and neurology and ophthalmology at MSU’s College of Human Medicine.

Bender and colleagues analyzed the relationships between how quickly 330 participants learned as well as the size of their hippocampus and white matter structure.

It’s normal for the hippocampus to shrink as we age, but it’s much more pronounced in people with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease.