Molecular Signatures of the Aging Brain: Finding the Links Between Genes and Phenotypes.

ABSTRACT: Aging is associated with cognitive decline and increased vulnerability to neurodegenerative diseases. The progressive extension of the average human lifespan is bound to lead to a corresponding increase in the fraction of cognitively impaired elderly individuals among the human population, with an enormous societal and economic burden. At the cellular and tissue levels, cognitive decline is linked to a reduction in specific neuronal subpopulations, a widespread decrease in synaptic plasticity and an increase in neuroinflammation due to an enhanced activation of astrocytes and microglia, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these functional changes during normal aging and in neuropathological conditions remain poorly understood. In this review, we summarize very recent and outstanding pr

SUBMITTER: Lupo G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6694319 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature