Aging

The signature of aging in the brain

Cognitive decline may be related to one's "immunological age"

October 7, 2014

Immunofluorescence microscope image of the choroid plexus. Epithelial cells are in green and chemokine proteins (CXCL10) are in red (credit: Weizmann Institute of Science)

Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have found evidence of a unique “signature” that may be the “missing link” between cognitive decline and aging and that may in the future lead to treatments that can slow or reverse cognitive decline in older people, according to Prof. Michal Schwartz of the Department of Neurobiology and Ido Amit of the Department of Immunology.

Until a decade ago, scientific dogma held that the blood-brain barrier prevents blood-borne immune cells from attacking and destroying brain tissue.

Yet in a long series of studies, Schwartz showed that the immune system actually plays an important role both in healing the brain after injury and in maintaining the brain’s normal functioning.