Cerebrospinal fluid from younger brains could improve memory function, according to a study in old mice
Credit: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty
Scientists have been trying to unravel the mysteries of why memory diminishes with age for decades. Now they have discovered a possible remedy — cerebrospinal fluid from younger brainsCerebrospinal fluid from young mice can improve memory function in older mice, researchers report today in. A direct brain infusion of young CSF probably improves the conductivity of the neurons in ageing mice, which improves the process of making and recalling memories.
“This is super exciting from the perspective of basic science, but also looking towards therapeutic applications,” says Maria Lehtinen, a neurobiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts. CSF is the central nervous system’s version of plasma: a soup of essential ions and nutrients that cushions the brain and spinal cord and is essential for normal brain development. Physicians frequently use it as an indicator of brain health, and a biomarker of neurological diseases. But as mammals age, CSF loses some of its punch. Those changes might affect cells related to memory, says co-author Tal Iram, a neuroscientist at Stanford University in California.
After three weeks the mice faced the same sounds and lights, but this time without a shock — recreating the context of the fear without the actual fear-inducing action. Mice that receive young CSF remembered the shock and froze in fear almost 40% of the time, but that happened only around 18% of the time in mice given artificial CSF. The findings suggest that young CSF can restore some declines in ageing-brain abilities.
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