Summarised by Centrist
Scientists from Stanford Medicine have uncovered a link between glucose levels and brain ageing, which suggests that cutting back on sugar may help stimulate the growth of new brain cells.
Led by Dr Anne Brunet, the study discovered that elevated glucose in ageing brains might be responsible for slowing down the production of new neurons. This potentially opens the door to therapies for cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
The research team used advanced CRISPR technology to investigate genes in old mice. They identified 300 genes that, when inhibited, reactivated dormant brain cells responsible for producing new neurons.
One gene, called Slc2a4, was important because it controls a protein that brings sugar (glucose) into cells. Dr Brunet explained that too much sugar around these old stem cells might be keeping them inactive.
The discovery was made after knocking out the Slc2a4 gene in older mice, which led to a dramatic two-fold increase in new neurons.
Further investigation revealed that old neural stem cells take in twice as much glucose as younger ones, pushing them into a dormant state. By reducing glucose uptake, the researchers managed to ‘wake up’ these cells, prompting them to start producing new neurons again. “We can see they are forming new neurons,” said lead author Dr Tyson Ruetz.
While drugs or genetic therapies are being considered, there’s also speculation that a simple low-carbohydrate diet with less sugar might be enough to rejuvenate neural stem cells naturally.
