The Adult Brain Does Grow New Neurons After All

New study by Scientific American suggests new ways and understandings on neurogenesis and how it can help slow down the on-set of certain diseases and depression. And to define it just a little more:

Study points toward lifelong neuron formation in the human brain’s hippocampus, with implications for memory and disease.

If the memory center of the human brain can grow new cells, it might help people recover from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), delay the onset of Alzheimer’s, deepen our understanding of epilepsy and offer new insights into memory and learning. If not, well then, it’s just one other way people are different from rodents and birds.

The link for those who wish a deeper understanding.
Link

This study could be beneficial for people in numerous ways, alongside all the other breakthrough studies being conducted in our time. The one example that hits close to home, is It could help soldiers suffering from PTSD.

For decades, scientists have debated whether the birth of new neurons—called neurogenesis—was possible in an area of the brain that is responsible for learning, memory and mood regulation. Now, a new study tips the "balance" back towards--"yes". New technologies that can locate cells in the living brain and measure the cells’ individual activity, may eventually put to rest any lingering questions.

The researchers, from Spain, tested a variety of methods of preserving brain tissue from 58 newly deceased people. They found that different methods of preservation led to different conclusions about whether new neurons could develop in the adult and aging brain.

Neurogenesis in the hippocampus matters, Gage says, because evidence in animals shows that it is essential for pattern separation, “allowing an animal to distinguish between two events that are closely associated with each other.” In people, Gage says, the inability to distinguish between two similar events could explain why patients with PTSD keep reliving the same experiences, even though their circumstances have changed. Also, many deficits seen in the early stages of cognitive decline are similar to those seen in animals whose neurogenesis has been halted, he says.
In healthy animals, neurogenesis promotes resilience in stressful situations, Gage says. Mood disorders, including depression, have also been linked to neurogenesis.

Rusty Gage, president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and a neuroscientist and professor there, says he was impressed by the researchers’ attention to detail. “Methodologically, it sets the bar for future studies.”

Llorens-Martin said she began carefully collecting and preserving brain samples in 2010, when she realized that many brains stored in brain banks were not adequately preserved for this kind of research. In their study, she and her colleagues examined the brains of people who died with their memories intact, and those who died at different stages of Alzheimer’s disease. She found that the brains of people with Alzheimer’s showed few if any signs of new neurons in the hippocampus—with less signal the further along the people were in the course of the disease. This suggests that the loss of new neurons—if it could be detected in the living brain—would be an early indicator of the onset of the f Alzheimer’s, and that promoting new neuronal growth could delay or prevent the disease that now affects more than 5.5 million Americans.

In mice and rats, researchers can stimulate the growth of new neurons by getting the rodents to exercise more or by providing them with environments that are more cognitively or socially stimulating, Llorens-Martin says. “This could not be applied to advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease. But if we could act at earlier stages where mobility is not yet compromised,” she says, “who knows, maybe we could slow down or prevent some of the loss of plasticity [in the brain].”

This study and potential future research will give hopefulness to future families of those who carry it genetically, and also to people who have family members suffering from the disease. It really is a nasty disease and is be heartbreaking for all involved.

Terying to identify the chemistry that stops the neurogenesis is not easy. Chemicals they allow to be added to foods are not tested to see if they can negatively effect this, nor are they tested to see if they cause neurons to fail. None is required because there is no present consensus that it is needed. When people age, they tend to eat more prepared foods that utilize many chemicals in their creation. Even some common foods we eat can cause brain cells to get damaged.

Over the last thousands of years people have learned how to properly prepare foods so they do not cause us harm. The new Fad nutrition has abandoned this long term information, lots of the veggies we eat require cooking and companion chemistry to make them edible without causing mild toxicity, but lately the consensus is that cooking as little as possible is better, but the heat liability of some of this mildly toxic plant defense chemistry requires more than just a little cooking, some need to be cooked for a certain duration to denature the plant defense chemistry they contain. These plant defense chemistries can even get worse sometimes if something is cooked instead of eaten raw. But most times it is not the case. I studied this quite a way and examined the old cookbooks, we got some problems that will be happening in the future because people trust improperly obtained science to judge nutrition. Sure, less cooking can save minerals but it can also cause some plant defense chemistries not to break down that need to break down. This is not new either, this goes back to the sixties, people get braver and braver because they notice they feel better initially, problem is that these chemicals are medicines to us, if you need them temporarily, it is good to exploit them, but long term use is not good. Juicing for a week is good for some, but not continuously for the majority of us.

A doctor prescribes a medicine, many designed from plant defense chemistry, for a limited time till you get better, then the prescription runs out and you go back to your life. If he prescribed the chemistry longer, soon side effects would take place, some altering your mind. Remember this, ancestral diet is important, we cannot be changing our diet too fast, yet in the last twenty five to thirty years people have altered it considerably. So why are we becoming a sick society, it is a combination of things. A little knowledge is dangerous, a lot of knowledge causes you to desire more knowledge to find out where you went wrong.

1. Does this make a difference if new neurons are created or not if the synapses are not rebuilt since the microtubules are clumping into Amyloid Plaques in Alzheimers?

2. Why do the scientist not do a big study on the effects of Ultrasound treatment on PTSD and Alzheimer patients?
www.quantumconsciousness.org...

3. If the synapses can be connected and disconnected as in a healthy brain then a person can redirect thoughts pattern with meditation.

Thanks for this thread! I've read articles in the past that supports this theory, so it's nice to read that this may have actually been proven. Older adults actually benefit from learning any "new" skill, whether it be learning to play guitar, learning to speak a new language, or even doing puzzles. Along with proper exercise and diet, learning a new skill, especially learning to play an instrument, may prevent the onset of age related dementia, or acute Alzheimer's.

As people age, they tend to engage less in cognitive-demanding activities, particularly in the case of retirement. This reduced activity may further undermine the learning and memory capacities of the elderly. The idea that age-related cognitive decline may be slowed, arrested, or even reversed through appropriately designed training or activities is supported by some research. Studies have shown that the frequency of cognitive activities in the elderly is associated with lower risk of cognitive disorders such as dementia. For example, elderly participants who were diagnosed with dementia were assessed on the overall frequency of cognitive activities: reading, writing, crossword puzzles, games, group discussions, or playing music (Hall and others 2009). Increasing frequency of cognitive activities predicted a delay in the onset of accelerated memory decline. In a longitudinal study, the relative contribution of specific activities was investigated (Verghese and others 2003). Participants aged over 75 years were followed for 5 years. Those participants who frequently played a musical instrument were less likely to have developed dementia compared to those who rarely played a musical instrument. This protective effect of playing music was stronger than those of other cognitive activities such as reading, writing, or doing crossword puzzles.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

So, after you retire, pick up an electric guitar, a small combo amp and rock out, because "you're never too old to rock 'n' roll!"

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I knew someone who loved to study new things and learn, but she got Alzheimer disease anyway. She did not eat eggs nor did she drink coffee, because the stuff she read said they were bad for people. Both of those two foods help to deter alzheimer disease, but the coffee has to have caffeine in it. Also too little salt in the diet can lead to increased dementia risk. Electrolytes are an important part.

a reply to: LtFluffyCakes96

That's refreshing. What about cell receptors, and more specifically this kinda stuff:

neu·ro·trans·mit·ter
/ˌn(y)o͝orōˈtranzmidər/
nounPHYSIOLOGY
a chemical substance that is released at the end of a nerve fiber by the arrival of a nerve impulse and, by diffusing across the synapse or junction, causes the transfer of the impulse to another nerve fiber, a muscle fiber, or some other structure.

From what I understand, receptor cells in the brain receive neurotransmitters and your brain or body create them somewhere, somehow via chemical synthesis. Your body turns certain molecular structures that you ingest from your food into them by breaking the chains down, flipping them, adding some bells and whistle bits to the edges of the molecule so that it fits or plugs into certain cell receptors and nerve fibers throughout the brain and body.

I suppose the ability to create neurotransmitters has a lot to do with your liver and your diet, but what about cell receptors? To be specific, receptors that keep an equilibrium in your moods, state of mind, stress level, ability to relax, sleep etc among others in your brain. They get damaged, destroyed, and die as you age but also from chemical exposure. Chemical exposure can be inhaling something accidently once or it can be taking a medication or using a drug over time. The frequency and amount of the exposure are some of the variables that determine the extent of damage. Taking a prescribed medication that affects the brain via these receptors daily as directed by a Doctor can and will cause receptor injury, damage, death, even durability, fragility.

Have you ever noticed that the older a person is, the more cognitive symptoms that they suffer from a bacterial infection such as strep throat or an upper respiratory, things that cause fevers? I'm 36 and I get it, didn't when I was in my 20's. A more pronounced mood dysphoria, anxiety, edginess, worry about daily things that normally wouldn't bug you so much. Also, have you noticed how people over 50, not all but some that have lived more stressful lives than others I suppose, often times men, tend to be in a sh#tty mood more often? More emotionally unstable in regards to getting mad or irritated over small things? Observing and keeping tabs on the smaller things, then getting upset easily if something's off?

You can be an adult and if you live with them, they'll get pissy and cause a fuss that triggers your adrenaline, puts you in a bad mood and on edge over the amount of toilet paper you use even though half the time you're paying for it and it's $1 for a pack of 4. Too much milk, sugar being used, leaving lights on or a TV screen (actual cable off).

There's a guy at work like this. 50 something and black, I'm white and the majority of employees at the restaurant are black as is the management. So, even though early on he befriended me and told me he liked me, we'd laugh together at stuff, as time went on he fell into a habit of trolling me, watching what I do and how I do it, and getting bothered or irritated by any little thing he thought I was doing wrong.

Petty stuff like putting too much of a portion of a side item that's almost given away for free (I work at a restaurant), or my order of operations. I did this before doing that, then the 3rd or 4th thing and I should've done something else first. I didn't prep an item for his line before prepping an item for the other, more busier line. I went outside to take out trash even though they weren't completely full to get a quick cigarette. Once he caught onto that, even though he goes outside a few times, he makes sure that every single trash can is empty in the kitchen as well as the lobby by the time I get there. They'll be so freshly changed that he must time it for right before I'm scheduled to be there.

Will his brain cells grow back? He has diabetes and COPD too. He's in a better mood after he takes 30-60 mins to "take his medicine" in his car. I used to think he was smoking crack on certain days as he'd be more of a predatory jerk than others. I stood up to him and now he leaves me alone, we don't say a word to each other unless its necessary for work, and there's an uneasy awkwardness when we pass each other.

The brain even grows new ones post-mortem.