Brain Aging tagged posts

Asa Abeliovich, Herve Rhinn et al. Genetic determinants of aging in human brain. Cell Systems, 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2017.02.009 Stock image credit: Getty Images

Genetic variant accelerates normal brain aging in older people by up to 12 years. Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have discovered a common genetic variant that greatly impacts normal brain aging, starting at around age 65, and may modify the risk for neurodegenerative diseases. The findings could point toward a novel biomarker for the evaluation of anti-aging interventions and highlight potential new targets for the prevention or treatment of age-associated brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

“If you look at a group of seniors, some will look older than their peers and some will look younger,” sai...

This graphic depicts the numbers and function of glia and neurons in the aging human brain. NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Lilach Soreq.

The difference between an old brain and a young brain isn’t so much the number of neurons but the presence and function of supporting cells, glia. Researchers who examined postmortem brain samples from 480 individuals ranging in age from 16 to 106 found that the state of someone’s glia is so consistent through the years that it can be used to predict someone’s age. The work lays the foundation to better understand glia’s role in late-in-life brain disease.

“We extensively characterized aging-altered gene expression changes across 10 human brain regions and found that, in fact, glial cells experience bigger changes than neurons,” says Jernej Ule...