The cognitive capacity of the individual is diminished as he ages, especially with regard to memory, attention and information processing speed. The brain region of the hippocampus is especially sensitive over the years, and the first to suffer atrophy before the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. In this sense, the loss of cholesterol in the neuronal membrane of hippocampal cells has been linked to mild cognitive deficits , that go beyond those properly expected at advanced ages, by research carried out by the Higher Council for Scientific Research.
If high blood cholesterol has previously been associated with the development of neurodegenerative disorders, the new work, published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine , now relates its appearance to the gradual loss of cholesterol from the membrane of hippocampal neurons, patent in the normal aging process. Because of this decline, the “Akt” protein remains in a persistently active state, preventing neurons from responding to new stimuli that lead to memory formation. To verify this connection, the researchers raised cholesterol levels in old hippocampal neurons to equal those of young neurons, and found that all parameters improved . The next step in your research is to identify the causes of such constitutive cholesterol loss.
The finding clarifies the physiological bases that underlie the appearance of mild cognitive deficits and serves as the basis for the design of new strategies for the prevention of Alzheimer’s or for reducing its symptoms based on the injection of cholesterol into the membranes of the hippocampal cells .
