Locate ‘hot spot’ of the brain where aging arises

A group of researchers has identified the genetic changes in the brain that induce aging, as well as the area where these alterations are more present, which could significantly contribute to the development of therapies for slow down or control the deterioration caused by age.

The findings, described in the journal Nature, are the result of the genetic mapping of more than 1.2 million cells of 16 regions of the brain of young mice (two months) and old (18 months), within the framework of the ambitious Brain Brain Research Initiative, financed by the National Institutes of the United States.

Science resorts to the brain of mice to study the human since they share similarities in terms of structure, function, genes and cell types. In this case, aging mice used in the study equals median age in the human being.

When studying the brains of young and old mice, scientists have seen that there are dozens of specific cell types that undergo significant changes in their gene expression with age: while the genes associated with inflammation increase their activity when aging, those related to the Neural structure and function decrease it.

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Diet connection

In addition, they have discovered a specific ‘hot point’ in the brain, in the hypothalamus, in which both the decrease in neuronal function and the increase in inflammation occurs intensely.

The most significant changes in gene expression have been observed in types of cells near the third ventricle of the hypothalamus, an area of ​​the brain that produces hormones that control, among others, body temperature, food intake, the use of energy received of food, metabolism or the way in which the body uses nutrients.

This finding would imply, according to the authors, that there is a connection between diet, lifestyle, aging cerebral and genetic changes that can influence greater vulnerability to age -related brain disorders.

Our hypothesis is that there are types of cells in the brain that are becoming less efficient with age and contributing to the aging of the rest of the body, ”explains in a statement one of the authors, Kelly Jin, a scientist at the Allen Institute of Brain Sciences of the American University of Washington.

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New treatments

The study “Feel the foundations for developing dietary or pharmacological interventions fight aging cell phone and maintain neurological health until an advanced age, ”adds the researcher.

We want to develop tools that can go to those types of cells, improve their function and see if we can delay the aging process, ”says Dr. Hongkui Zeng, director of the Allen Institute.

This research is aligned with other recent studies that have related Aging with metabolic changesas well as with research that suggests that intermittent fasting, a balanced diet or caloric restriction could improve life expectancy.

(With EFE information)

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