New
findings by researchers at Stanford University, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, have made a connection
between brain aging and a protein called C1q.
Levels of C1q appear to increase with the aging process. This protein, secreted by microglia (the brain's own immune system cells) appears to lodge in
synapses, the point between neurons, and is associated with cell death after a
brain injury occurs. According to professor
and chair of neurobiology and senior author of the study, Ben Barres MD, PhD: “The
first regions of the brain to show a dramatic increase in C1q are places like
the hippocampus and substantia nigra, the precise brain regions most vulnerable
to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,
respectively.” Children don’t get Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and these
findings may help to explain reasons behind that phenomenon.
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