A team of scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has demonstrated that communication among memory-coding neurons — nerve cells in the brain responsible for maintaining working memory — is disrupted with ageing and that this can begin in middle age.
Findings from the study, which was reported in Nature Communications, provide new insights into the ageing process of the human mind, and pave the way for therapies to maintain the mental well-being of an ageing individual.
Scientists have long studied the impact of ageing on the brain’s executive functions, such as poorer self-control and working memory. While it is well established that memory can worsen as people age, it has not been clear what changes occur at the individual brain neuron level to cause this — until now.
Previous studies used nerve cells from dead subjects, but the Lee Kong Chian…
