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Neural ageing is the process by which neural cells in the brain and peripheral nervous system deteriorate structurally and functionally over time. It is associated with a decline in sensory, motor and cognitive functions of the brain.
Cervical lymphatic vessels drain cerebrospinal fluid from the brain. A recent study reveals an aging-related disruption in the pumping action of lymphatic vessels that hampers lymph flow, which may prevent efficient brain clearance of potentially toxic proteins linked to neurodegenerative disease.
In mice, a subset of neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus control sympathetic nervous system signalling to adipose tissue and are dysregulated with age; activating these neurons prolongs lifespan and slows the decline in physical activity associated with ageing.
Around 10% of individuals with frontotemporal lobar dementia have amyloid filament inclusions that lack tau and TDP-43 and were thought to contain the protein FUS, but are found instead to contain the FUS homologue TAF15.
Senescent cells in the brain contribute to age-related neurodegeneration. Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in human brain organoids, animals and post-mortem brain samples from patients with COVID-19 reveals virus-induced senescence. Pharmacological senolytic treatment following SARS-CoV-2 infection improves COVID-19 neuropathology and could help to protect people from long COVID.
