aging brain

As people age, their brains pay the price -- inflammation goes up, levels of certain neurotransmitters go down, and the result is a plethora of ailments ranging from memory impairment and depression to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

But in a long-term study with implications to treat these and other conditions, researchers have found that an experimental drug, taken chronically, has the ability to stem the effects of aging in the rat brain.

When injected into aged laboratory animals, human umbilical cord blood cells improved the brain's microenvironment, decreasing inflammation in the brain, increasing neurogenesis, and restoring some lost capacity of stem/progenitor cells to proliferate and differentiate into neurons.

Researchers found that the number of proliferative cells increased within 24 hours of injection, with proliferation continuing for at least 15 days.

Researchers concluded that cell therapy may be an effective way of improving the microenvironment of the hippocampus.

A brain network linked to introspective tasks -- such as forming the self-image or understanding the motivations of others -- is less intricate and well-connected in children, scientists have learned.

They also showed that the network establishes firmer connections between various brain regions as an individual matures.

The scientists are working to establish a picture of how these connections and other brain networks normally develop and interact.