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Study Shows that Older Adults can Produce Just as Many Healthy Brain Cells as Young Adults
Study Shows that Older Adults can Produce Just as Many Healthy Brain Cells as Young Adults
Previously, it was widely known that as we get older, we stopped producing new brain cells. However, a
new study published in Cell Stem Cell is countering that old notion.
Researchers at Columbia University found that elderly individuals have a similar ability to
create thousands of
new hippocampal neurons from progenitor cells as younger individuals do. In order to draw this
conclusion,
scientists autopsied 28 hippocampi from previously healthy individuals ranging in age from 14 to 79 who
had
passed away suddenly. This paper shows for the first time, researchers able to see newly formed neurons
and the
state of the blood vessels in the entire hippocampus of a deceased induvial soon after death. It is also
important to mention that the researchers had determined that the study subjects were not cognitively
impaired,
they did not suffer from depression, nor did they take antidepressants. All of these factors have
previously
been linked to impact the production of new brain cells. As compared to rodents and primates, whose
ability to
generate new hippocampal cells decline with age, scientists were able to see that even the oldest human
brain
sample had a similar number of intermediate neural progenitors and thousands of immature neurons.
However, older
individuals did exhibit fewer new blood vessels within brain structures and also possessed a smaller
pool of
progenitor cells. It is speculated from the lead investigator of the study that cognitive-emotional
resilience
in old age may be caused by smaller pool of neural stem cells, the decline in vascularization, and
reduced
cell-to-cell connectivity within the hippocampus. This study will hopefully lead to future research into
the
aging brain to help us understand the neural cell proliferation, maturation, and many more pathways.
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Previously, it was widely known that as we get older, we stopped producing new brain cells. However, a
new study published in Cell Stem Cell is countering that old notion.
