Humans Can Produce New Brain Cells Into Their 90s: New Scientists Discovery

Scientists have now discovered that humans can produce fresh brain cells into their 90s, but the production of new neurons is only possible for those with Alzheimer's disease.

This discovery may help doctors to diagnose Alzheimer's at an earlier stage, and encourage those at risk to engage in exercise and other related activities that could help increase the production of new brain cells.

This is the recent work that has cause chaos amount new scientists, with some arguing that human develop complete brain cells when they reach adulthood, and others suggesting that production of fresh neurons continue to develop into old age.

In a bid to help decide the the correct theory, scientists in Spain conducted a battery of tests on brain tissue donated by 13 individuals who died aged 43-87. All have a compatible brain before their deaths.

A neuroscientist at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Maria Llorens-Martins and the senior scientist on the study, discovered that while the brain cells produce new neurons, there was a drastic reduction in number with those between the ages of 40 and 70, also,  the number of new neurons found in the part of the brain studied decreased from about 40,000 to 30,000 per cubic millimeters.

The new cells were produced in the part of the brain known as the dentate gyrus. It is a part of the hyppocampus which plays a special role in learning, emotion, mood, and memory. The gradual decrease in new brain cells is said to go alongside with the cognitive decline that comes with old age.

However, after studying healthy brain cells, scientists went further to study the brains of people who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's before death. They then carried out analysis on brain cells from 45 patients aged 52 to 97. All had new brain cells in the dentate gyrus.

Maria in a statement said, "This is very essential for the Alzheimer's disease discipline because the number of cells you detect in healthy individuals is always greater than the number detected in patients with Alzheimer's disease regardless of their age. It suggests that same independent mechanism, different from physiological ageing, might be responsible for the decreasing number of new neurons."

Besides, she said the research was only possible because of the benevolent act of the individuals who donated their brains to science.

Again, she said brain scans might one day be able to detect newly formed brain cells and so Alzheimer's could be diagnosed in its earliest stage.