New research revealed that the reason behind brain aging is not loss of function or decline but excessive neuron activity.
According to News Medical, a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggested that the ageing-related decline of the brain is caused by the excessive activation of certain neurons over time.
Lead researcher of the study, Professor Kentaro Noma, said, “In this study, we used the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which is only one millimetre long and has a lifespan of only two weeks. The nematodes exhibit a variety of behaviours with their 302 neurons.”
As people age, their brain function starts declining. Earlier it was thought that this happened because neurons became less active. However, a team of researchers for Nagoya University conducted experiments on nematodes to determine the cause-and-effect relations between neurons hyperactivation and decline in brain function with age.
The first author of the study, Binta Maria Aleogho, explained, “Our previous studies found that the brain function for associative learning in C. elegans declines over time, and we thought this was due to a decline in neuronal activity with age.”
“In our latest study, however, we found that the activities of AFD sensory neurons and AIY interneurones, both of which are thought to be essential for associative learning, have barely changed with age," she noted.
Noma further added that the hyperactivation of AWC and AIA neuron with age disrupts the normal neuronal network, rendering them unable to carry out the thermotaxis behaviour.
