Aging is an inevitable biological process characterized by a progressive decline in physiological function and increased susceptibility to disease. The detrimental effects of aging are observed in all tissues, the brain being the most important one due to its main role in the homeostasis of the organism. As our knowledge about the underlying mechanisms of brain aging increases, potential approa...

Aging is one of the unique features in all organisms. The impaired functional capacity of many systems characterizes aging. When such impairments occur in the brain, the susceptibility to neurodegenerative diseases amplifies considerably. The free radical theory of aging posits that the functional impairments in brains are due to the attack on critical cellular components by free radicals, reac...

The world's population is living much longer than in the past. It is crucial to find as many pathological factors that deteriorate the health condition and well-being of elderly people as possible. Loss of activity and functions over time is typical for elderly people. Aging affects brain function, metabolism and structure in different ways, and these effects have multiple etiologies. Cognitive...

here is growing evidence that in the aging process both the neural and the vascular aspects of brain function are affected. On the neural side, aging is associated with damage to the myelin sheaths and reduction in the total number of nerve fibers, resulting in a reduction in structural connectivity [1]. But connections in the brain are not only structural (i.e. synapses, axons, etc.); equally ...

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging, more than 14 percent of the US population is 65 or older, a percentage that is predicted to steadily increase over the next several decades. The rapid growth of this segment of the population is not a phenomenon limited to the United States — the global population is aging as well. A recent report by...

S uccess in using noninvasive neural stimulation in humans has paved the way for several exciting additions to the ever-expanding toolkit used by cogni-tive neuroscientists to understand the relationship between brain and behavior (eg, transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation [tDCS]). Although neuroimaging methods such as functional MRI and electroencephalog...

The human brain weighs on average about three pounds, consists of 200 billion cells. Surprisingly, there are only two categories of brain cells, neurons and glia, but more than 50 different cellular subtypes. Nerve cells or neurons are specialized cells that are electrically
excitable,
and
processes
 and
 transmit
 information
 to
 other
 neurons
 and
 cells
 through
electrochemical
signaling
v...

老化とは単に年をとることをいうものではない ことは,幼 児が年を1歳 とったとき,老 化 した と い う人はいないことか ら明らかである。 しかし,壮 年期以後は年をとることを老化 した とい うことが多い。つまり,老 化は成熟期以後に 年を とることをい うわけである。 しかし,老 化の定義は難しく,百 人の学者が集 まれば百説あるといわれるほど,多 様である。定 義が定まらないことか ら,そ の機序 も明らかでは なく,当 然のことであるが防 ぐことも困難で あ る。 ,臨 床的面か らみると,“ 老化とは血管の 老化である” とい う言葉がきわめて適切なものと もいえる。た とえば,わ が国の死因の第二,第 三 を占めている心疾患,脳 血管障害の多 く,と くに 後者はほとんどが血管の老化,つ まり動脈硬化が 原因である疾患である。この両者で死因の40%以 上を占めていること...

The review covers current concepts on cell and molecular mechanisms of neuroinflammation and aging with the special focus on the regulation of cytokine-producing activity of astroglial cells and intercellular communication. The review reflects that a key component of the aging phenomenon as a result of ineffective implementation of anti-inflammatory response are processes of the dysregulated cy...