Science in Rehovot: Cognitive decline might be slowed (and might be not)

REHOVOT, Israel: A team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science has come up with new findings that might help delay and slow cognitive deterioration in old age.

The Israeli researchers, led by Professor Michal Schwartz of the institute's neurobiology department and Rehovot-based biotech firm Proneuron, say they've discovered immune cells contribute to the brain's ability to maintain cognitive ability and cell renewal throughout life.

Until recently it was generally believed each person is born with a fixed number of nerve cells in the brain, and those cells gradually degenerate and die during the person's lifetime and cannot be replaced.

That theory was disproved when researchers discovered certain regions of the adult brain do, in fact, retain their ability to support and promote cell renewal throughout life, especially under conditions of mental stimuli and physical activity.

But Schwartz's group demonstrated autoimmune cells have the potential ability -- if their levels are controlled -- to fight debilitating degenerative conditions that can afflict the central nervous system -- such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, glaucoma, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and the nerve degeneration that results from trauma or stroke.

The study is detailed in the February issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Source: newKerala.com