Drs. Prevot, Sibille and Colleagues just published their finding in the Journal Cerebral Cortex, about a new molecule reversing brain atrophy and memory dysfunction observed during aging.
During aging, our brain tends to slowly shrink in size due to neuronal shrinkage and reduced function. This phenomenon participates in the emergence of cognitive and memory deficits, that can precipitate the emergence of more complex diseases such Alzheimer’s disease.
Drs. Prevot, Sibille and Colleagues demonstrated the effect of GABAA receptor modulation, through the α5-subunit on the improvement of neuron morphology in the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus of old mice. The effect on the morphology is associated with improved memory functions and represent a potential major breakthrough for the treatment of patients suffering from memory deficits due to aging, and could further extend to treating patients in the early phases of Alzheimer’s disease.