WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ?

Damage to genes may spur senior moments
By Kay Lazar
Thursday, June 10, 2004

It turns out aging may really be all in your head.

Boston researchers have discovered that aging brains show distinct damage in key genes that affect memory and learning.

``The surprising thing is this starts earlier than one might have suspected,'' said lead researcher Dr. Bruce Yankner, a neurologist and neuroscientist at Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

``We see this starting in the early 40s and late 30s in some individuals,'' Yankner said.

Yankner and his colleagues collected brain samples from autopsies of 30 people, ranging in age from 26 to 106.

They found that certain genes linked to learning and memory showed damage and didn't work as well in the brains of those over 40. They also discovered that damage appeared to trigger other genes, involved in stress and inflammation, to work harder.

``We believe that what's happening is the brain is trying to cope or compensate for these changes in aging,'' Yankner said.

Exactly why aging brains are vulnerable to this kind of gene damage is an open question. For instance, the researchers found some of the brains of middle-agers more resembled the younger ones, while other 40-somethings had gene changes similar to elderly people.

He said the discovery may one day be used to determine whether treatments or lifestyle changes could reduce gene damage in young adults and delay mental decline in later years.

But scientists caution that the findings, published yesterday online in the journal Nature, do not prove that damaged genes are linked to impaired functioning in aging brains. However they say the discovery is a critical clue for future research.
.......................................................................................................... can somebody please explain to me what the researchers have determined ? i don't seem to be able to remember by the time i have finished reading the article ! a "senior moment" candidate. hbg