Norwegian researcher Gro Amdam has achievedreverse the aging process in the brain of bees. Your work could help people with dementia. “We accept that as we age our mental acuity and health decline. But recent findings indicate thataging does not have to be synonymous with going ‘downhill’“, said Amdam.
The researcher studiesthe brain of bees, whose neurons are strikingly similar to ours. Analyzing the performance of older insects in learning and memory tests, he discovered that older bees took longer to learn to associate a smell with a reward (and remember it later) than younger ones. However, when the insects showed symptoms similar to dementia they quickly forgot, or were not even able to relate the stimuli. “These insect problems are similar to what we see in elderly people:both have reduced short-term memory and learning ability“, says Amdam.
The good news is that all was not lost for the insane bees. Naturally, in the division of tasks in a hive, the older bees are assigned the job of collecting food outside the hive, while the younger ones must take care of the larvae. Amdam found thatif they altered the organization so that the older bees performed the tasks of the younger ones, half of them improved their learning abilities and memory. “Research on the elderly shows that social stimulation can have positive effects on health and brain function,” says Adams, who believes that something similar happens to bees.
Analyzing the brain proteins of the insects, the researcher found that the bees that improved their performance had higher levels – in some cases up to twice – of eight proteins involved in the growth, repair and maintenance of neurons. Some of them are also found in the human brain. “There is some flexibility in the brain of bees, and it is possible that the brain of other animals and humans may have similar potential,” Amdam concludes. If so, the question is “whether we will be able to figure out how to take advantage of this flexibility,” he adds. Another alternative would be to understand how the most important proteins work and create substances that produce similar effects.
