AI Article Synopsis
- Brain aging and memory loss may be linked not only to brain processes but also to the aging of the immune system.
- Research shows that immune deficiencies and malfunctions can lead to cognitive impairments in younger animals, and that restoring immune function can reverse memory loss in older individuals.
- The decline in adaptive immunity with age suggests that memory loss might be more about the immune system's ability to keep up with age-related challenges than just getting older.
Article Abstract
The factors that determine brain aging remain a mystery. Do brain aging and memory loss reflect processes occurring only within the brain? Here, we present a novel view, linking aging of adaptive immunity to brain senescence and specifically to spatial memory deterioration. Inborn immune deficiency, in addition to sudden imposition of immune malfunction in young animals, results in cognitive impairment. As a corollary, immune restoration at adulthood or in the elderly results in a reversal of memory loss. These results, together with the known deterioration of adaptive immunity in the elderly, suggest that memory loss does not solely reflect chronological age; rather, it is an outcome of the gap between an increasing demand for maintenance (age-related risk-factor accumulation) and the reduced ability of the immune system to meet these needs.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2009.03.003 | DOI Listing |
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