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The gut can drive age-associated memory loss, research reveals

The gut can drive age-associated memory loss
An intestinal immune cell detects medium-chain fatty acids produced by aging gut bacteria through the GPR84 receptor, releasing inflammatory molecules that block signaling along the vagus nerve to the hippocampus. Disruption of this gut-brain pathway drives age-associated cognitive decline. Credit: Thaiss Lab

We become forgetful as we age. This is often seen as a universal truth, but in fact it is far from universal: some people remain incredibly sharp at 100 years old, while others experience memory loss starting in middle age.

While it seems logical that age-related cognitive decline would be blamed on brain aging and degeneration (which, like anything in the brain, is notoriously hard to treat), there’s some evidence that processes elsewhere in the body influence the brain’s abil...

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