Aging And Young Blood

There are people who think that older adults are not capable of learning new information because of the number of neurons in their brain decline as they age. In the PBS video “Stealing Time”, the old cage potato rats were given a change of scene with an enriched environment and the results were that their dendrites grew and made new synaptic connections where there were none before. These rats were better on future tasks than the old rats that were not given a change of scene. When older adults are doing a task in a laboratory setting they are less efficient at processing the information presented to them and their reaction time is slower. “Older adults show more brain activity between the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal lobe than

Among these different processes are encoding, storage, consolidation, and retrieval. This study hypothesized that the hippocampus plays a different role in each of these. The method of this study is especially unique because it used temporary chemical inactivation of the hippocampus, which had not been done before. This temporary inactivation is unique because it lets the researchers selectively assess the role of the hippocampus during each of the processes discussed above. To test encoding, the inactivation occurred during learning of a maze task; to test retrieval, inactivation occurred during a retention task. Results indicate the temporary inactivation of the hippocampus impairs both encoding and retrieval. To test long-term consolidation, rats were trained and then separate groups received hippocampal treatment for different amounts of time between one and five days. Results showed that temporary inactivation during this time period disrupts memory for the already learned task. This study partially supports the result of the study by Eldridge et al. (2000) in that they both show the hippocampus is necessary for memory retrieval. However, it does not address the retrieval of different types of memory. This study also supports the idea from Wang et al. (2012) that the hippocampus may be involved in consolidation and storage of new memories but not necessarily of older

Anterograde Amnesia does not have a specific age of onset, but can occur when one experiences damage to the hippocampus through viral or bacterial infections, seizures, strokes, or restricted blood flow. In a study by Clark, Broadbent, Zola, and Squire (2002), rats who had part of their hippocampus area removed experienced anterograde amnesia as opposed to the control group who did not when they were placed in a food judgement task. In this task, rats were given different food each day, but there was one piece of food that remained constant. Here, the lesion rats did not gain a preference or liking towards a specific food. Meanwhile, the control group gained a preference

It is full of comprehensive and engaging style; well reference and scientifically proven, summarizes the current revolution in neuroscience and neuroplasticity, and closes the gap that the old age or matured brain, which is unchangeable is changeable and malleable (plastic); extending it functions from one region to the other. Doidge engaging style of writing, scientific proves, and academic tone help to make the book persuasive.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is a type of dementia that no one would ever want their grandmother or grandfather to suffer from, as it destroys memory and other important mental functions of its sufferer. Alzheimer's disease is currently ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. While the age 65 and older is its target age, it has consumed the lives of over 1.9 million people. The brain begins to show signs of damage in the hippocampus, the part of the brain essential in forming memories. As more neurons die, parts of the brain then begin to shrink. By the final stage of Alzheimer’s, damage is widespread, and brain tissue has shrunk significantly. The idea that Alzheimer’s disease is related to age in 1974 was introduced

Long-term potentiation refers to the steady increase in synaptic activity between two neurons which causes persistent strengthening of synaptic activity. Since memory formation is mainly dependent on synaptic strength, LTP seems to play an essential role in memory formation. Contrary to that, long-term depression causes a reduction in synaptic activity between two neurons, causing a decrease in synaptic activity. LTP and LTD are essential for normal functioning of the brain and balance in the ratio of LTP/LTD is needed for homeostasis. The levels and activity of LTP and LTD are majorly dependent on Calcium levels, Calcium-Calmodulin Kinase, NMDARs (N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptors) and AMPARs (α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic

This paper will discuss the relationship between the aging process and key diseases associated with aging. Examples of aging-associated diseases include cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases (López-Otín, Blasco, Partridge, Serrano, & Kroemer, 2013, p. 1194). Of these, we will discuss in-depth recent studies that have linked aging with Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. These diseases affect a significant proportion of the population over the age of 65 and place a considerable burden on the American health care system. Therefore, a better understanding of how they are related to aging and each other can result in the adoption of innovative treatments and declined risk for older adults.

The hippocampus is a small region of the brain that is associated with the limbic system (Mandal, n.d). It can be found in the medial temporal lobe of the brain, beneath the cortical surface (Mandal, n.d). It is separated into two half’s that reside on the left and right side of the brains hemispheres (Mandal, n.d). The first description of the hippocampus was given by anatomist Julius Caesar in 1587 (Mandal, n.d). Caesar described the shape first as a silkworm, but would later describe it as a seahorse (Mandal, n.d) The purpose of this paper is to establish the functions of the hippocampus, Diseases and illness’s that harm or alter the hippocampus, as well as research that has been aided in the understanding of the hippocampus. As well as,

Since hippocampus plays an important function in the brain, it has become a great topic for many conducted research not only on human but also animals, specifically primates and rodents. In primate model of amnesia, the experiment is performed through three main tasks – delayed nonmatch to sample, object discrimination paradigm and motor skill learning across multiple trials (Eichenbaum et al, 1992). In delayed non-matching test, both amnesic and intact monkey show nearly same performance rate in remembering objects across delayed in short period of time (Eichenbaum et al, 1992). In contrast, amnesic monkeys show a great impairment for longer delayed conditions, hours, in picking the right non-matched samples (Eichenbaum et al, 1992). Likewise, in object discrimination task, amnesic monkeys are unable to recognize objects, as compared to control monkeys (Eichenbaum et al, 1992).These tests suggest the importance of hippocampus in acquisition of new information and recollection old events from episodic memory. Additionally, hippocampus also contributes largely to relational representation, as a characteristic of declarative memory (Eichenbaum et al, 1992). This can be shown through odor discrimination and place

Cognitive aging is commonly labeled strictly as memory and only found in “some people”. However, this is not true. The knowledge of cognitive aging has grown immensely, but there is still much to be learned. The surface has only been scratched with many more questions to be answered. Cognitive aging is worthy of study and effects everyone, but there is also much more is still to be learned.

Doctors and scientists dispute the exact role of the hippocampus, but agree that it has an essential role in the formation of new memories about personally experienced events. Some researchers prefer to consider the hippocampus as part of a larger medial temporal lobe memory system responsible for declarative memory. When a long-term, declarative memory is made, certain neuronal connections in the temporal lobe are strengthened, and others are weakened. These changes are fairly permanent, however some may take weeks or months before they are complete

Why does the human brain age? Brain aging is a part of human life and a big part of society as the awareness for brain aging increases. Over time memory tends to become less efficient as we age and the neurons in the brain decreases (Bendheim, P.E. (2009). By 2050 in the US, 20 percent of the population will be 65 years or older. And as the elderly population increases, so will the incidence of age-related neurological disorders (Perlmutter, David. (2004). Therefor it is important to understand the aging brain, and how to keep the brain functioning as one ages.

Aging causes structural and functional changes in brain. As aging population has become a burden, it is essential to study aging brain aiming to maintain cognitive integrity. Previous studies indicated that young blood improves the function of stem cells in organs including brain by heterochronic parabiosis model. However, data is lacking whether regeneration or beyond occurs by this model. The authors Villeda et al., hypothesized that aged animal exposed to young blood can counteract aging process and rejuvenate brain cognitive function. Therefore, the authors conducted research to examine within molecular, structural, functional, and cognitive aspects.

It is clear to neurobiologists that aging results in a decrease in brain size as well as a decrease in the efficiency of brain functions. It has been a widely held belief that aging causes neurons to die and for the overall number of neurons to decrease as one reaches old age. Studies