A preliminary study is linking the part of the brain used for daydreaming with Alzheimer's dementia:

Scientists who set out to explore changes in the brain as Alzheimer's disease progresses got a surprise: a possible link between daydreaming and the degenerative brain disease that robs memory, language and thought.

A new Washington University study shows the part of the brain used to daydream is the same where Alzheimer's disease develops in some people later in life. It suggests the normal brain activity of daydreaming fuels the sequence of events leading to Alzheimer's.

"The implication, albeit a speculative one, is that those activity patterns in young adults are the foothold onto which Alzheimer's disease forms," said lead researcher Randy Buckner, associate professor of psychology. He said they may lead to a life-long cascade that ends in Alzheimer's disease in some people.

"It suggests a new hypothesis and opens an avenue in Exploration," Buckner said. "By no means is it definitive."

(Wittenauer, "Study Links Daydreaming, Alzheimer's", AP/ABC News, Aug.24)