Scientists Identify the Signature of Aging in the Brain

In research recently published in the journal Science, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science found evidence of a unique “signature” that may be the missing link between cognitive decline and aging. The discovery may lead to future treatments that can slow or reverse cognitive decline in older people. In a long series of studies, the immune system proved to play an important role in healing the brain after injury and in maintaining the brain’s normal functioning. Researchers found that this brain-immune system interaction occurs across barrier that is actually a unique interface (choroid plexus) within the brain’s territory. The choroid plexus acts as a ‘remote control’ for the immune system to affect brain activity. During the study, researchers used next-generation sequencing technology to map changes in gene expression in 11 different organs, including the choroid plexus, in both young and aged mice, to identify and compare pathways involved in the aging process. Doing this allowed the researchers to identify a strikingly unique “signature of aging” that exists solely in the choroid plexus — not in the other organs. To read more about this study, click here.