Aged Neurons Don’t Respond Normally to Stress

Aging interferes with the way neurons, or nerve cells, respond to stress, making them more susceptible to damage and more likely to contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, according to a study in cells and brain tissue.

“It’s the neuronal equivalent of being so stressed that you catch a cold,” Kevin Rhine, PhD, the study’s first author and a postdoctoral research fellow at University of California (UC) San Diego’s Sanford Stem Cell Innovation Center, said in a university news story.

The study, “Neuronal aging causes mislocalization of splicing proteins and unchecked cellular stress,” was published in Nature Neuroscience.