Brain aging could be delayed

• April 19, 2024

According to research conducted by neuroscientists of the Stanford University , the young blood of a three-month mouse can generate that the brain of an old mouse produce new neurons . And although the team has not yet identified the factor of rejuvenation , they found a component in the blood that could be related to brain aging, published the scientific journal Nature .

Tony Wyss-Coray of the Stanford University School of Medicine and his team resumed research in which it was proven that inject blood from a younger mouse to an old one improved the immune system and reinforced the muscles , so they focused on what would happen in the brain .

The researchers measured the creation of new neurons or neurogenesis in mice of three months and two years while they connected their circulatory systems .

"The number of new cells in a region of the hippocampus, related to memory, it rose from less than 400 to almost a thousand in old mice. In young mice they decreased by almost a quarter. The blood worked in both directions, so we know that the age of the blood has a special effect on the brain "Coray told the magazine Science .

As an effect of old blood, young mice obtained low results in exercises of memory Y learning by committing more than twice as many errors after a day of training and a day of testing.

"The big implication is that we can affect the aging and degradation of brain , even the dementia , if we find the peripheral factors instead of focusing only on the brain "said Wyss-Coray.

However, studies conducted by neuroscientists offer a new proof that the blood controls part of the neurogenesis what could help treat these diseases.

Currently, one of the diseases neurodegenerative that most affect the population are the Parkinson and the Alzheimer's , which are usually manifested in older adults. This prevents them from leading a normal life and makes them dependent.

Video Medicine: Can ageing be delayed, stopped or even reversed? BBC News (April 2024).