Study looks at ageing brains

New information about how the brain is affected by age was recently discovered by biologists at the University of York and Hull York Medical School in Britain.

Studying the responses to stress in neuronal connections, the researchers found stressful conditions may result in high energy forms of damaging oxygen to the brain, which could “potentially contribute to dysfunction” – leading to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, the study looked at the responses using a model of lysosomal storage disease – an inherited and incurable childhood disease.

While researchers maintained the role growth played in disease progression and brain function was not yet clear, they said the findings could have “strong” implications for neuronal function as brains age.

Co-author, Dr Iain Robinson told Health Canal that neuronal contacts in the brain “constantly change”.

“These changes in the brain enable us to form short-term memories such as where we parked the car, or longer term memories, such as what is our pin number for the cash point machine,” Dr Robinson said.

Shedding light on how the brain becomes “less able” to make these changes as a person ages, Dr Robinson claimed the research would help to explain the loss of neuronal contacts seen in several neurodegenerative diseases.

Co-author, Dr Sean Sweeney, of the Department of Biology at the University of York, added the findings have “strong implications” for neuronal function as brains age.

“It will add significantly to our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” he said.