Study Finds Link Between Stress and Neurodegenerative Disease

posted on Nov 29 by Guest Author in the Disability News, Health category

A team of researchers from the Hull York Medical School, the University of York, and the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry have discovered a link between the growth rate of neuronal connections and stressful conditions as the human brain ages. These findings may provide a better understanding of the development of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers detailed their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal.

The researchers studied stress responses in synapses in fruit flies. Synapses are structures that allow neurons to transmit signals to other cells in the brain. The researchers found that stressful conditions such as neurodegeneration resulted in a high-energy form of damaging oxygen that caused an excessive growth of synapses, which potentially contributed to dysfunction. These stresses typically occur during diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, according to the researchers.

The Drosophila fruit fly was used as a model for the study, however, the researchers stated that similar pathways exist in humans. The researchers also used a model of lysosomal storage disease, a hereditary incurable neurodegenerative disease in which enlarged synapses were observed, but how that growth affects disease progression and brain function remains unclear.

“The findings have strong implications for neuronal function as brains age, and will add significantly to our understanding of neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” said study co-author Dr. Sean Sweeney of the Department of Biology at the University of York.

“Our work sheds light on how our brain becomes less able to make these changes in neuronal contacts as we age and helps explain the loss of neuronal contacts seen in several neurodegenerative diseases,” said co-researcher Dr. Iain Robinson of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry. Dr. Robinson also stated that neuronal contacts in the brain constantly change, which enables us to form short- or long-term memories.

Previously, researchers have conducted similar studies on stress and aging of the brain in mice, as seen in the video below.

Sources:
thehindu.com/health/medicine-and-research/article2528342.ece
privatehealth.co.uk/news/october-2011/care-for-patients-with-memory-problems-36037/

Image source:
thehindu.com