As Shakespeare said, we all have our entrance and our exit on this magnificent stage. When our brain cells showed the first signs of starting a downward slope, the researchers identified specific points in middle-aged age.
Its age is based on brain scans and tests covering 19,300 individuals, with an average of around 44 years. Degeneration begins to become more noticeable before reaching the fastest speed at age 67. By the time you reach 90, the brain’s aging speed will be turned off.
The results could help you come up with ways to promote better brain health at the later stages of life, according to the team behind a new study led by researchers at Stony Brook University in the US.
“Understanding precisely when and how brain aging accelerates provides a strategic point for intervention.” say Stony Brook University Neuroscientist Lilianne Mujica-Parodi.
“We have identified important middle-aged windows where the brain begins to experience a decrease in access to energy, but essentially begins to experience a “bending” before an irreversible damage occurs. ”
The team was also able to identify potential major drivers of this collapse: Neurons Insulin resistance. The results suggest that insulin affects neurons as our brains age. In other words, less glucose is taken up as energy, which begins to destroy signaling in the brain.
This idea that metabolism affects brain aging was supported by genetic analysis conducted by researchers. Activities associated with the glucose-absorbing protein GLUT4 and the fat-transporting protein ApoE were consistent with signs of brain wear.
So, replacing or repairing neuronal energy sources in any way can help slow brain aging, potentially giving you another treatment option for neurodegenerative diseases (APOE has been strongly associated with Alzheimer’s disease in the past).
“In the lifespan, neurons are metabolically stressed due to insufficient fuel. They struggle, but they are still viable.” say Mujica-Parodi.
“So providing alternative fuels between this critical window could help restore function. However, by later age, long-term hunger in neurons may have caused a cascade of other physiological effects that would make intervention effective.”
Researchers tested the hypothesis in a group of 101 people given Ketone supplementsIt appears to promote brain cells’ insulin sensitivity and suppress metabolic damage.
Brain degradation stabilizes after ketone supplements are taken, and the greatest advantage appears in middle-aged (in this case 40-59). This suggests that this type of treatment may work, but timing is important.
“This represents a paradigm shift in the way we think about preventing aging in the brain.” say Neuroscientist Botond Antal at Stony Brook University.
“Instead of waiting for cognitive symptoms that may not appear until substantial damage occurs, we may identify and intervene people at risk through neurometabolic markers during this critical window.”
This study is published in pnas.
