By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com
Do you want your brain’s molecules to revert to a youthful state? Keep taking, or start taking the anti-depressant fluoxetine (FLX, which is also known by trade names like Prozac, Sarafem, and Fontex) if you want to get a jump on brain-youth, as it has been found in research on mice to induce a juvenile-like state in the prefrontal cortex. But watch out, you just might start spending hours in front of the mirror analyzing your skin, hair style and dance moves.
Do you want your brain’s molecules to revert to a youthful state? Keep taking, or start taking the anti-depressant fluoxetine (FLX, which is also known by trade names like Prozac, Sarafem, and Fontex) if you want to get a jump on brain-youth, as it has been found in research on mice to induce a juvenile-like state in the prefrontal cortex. But watch out, you just might start spending hours in front of the mirror analyzing your skin, hair style and dance moves.
In a paper appearing November 4 in the online open-access journal Molecular Brain, Dr. Tsuyoshi Miyakawa and his colleagues from Fujita Health University show that long-term administration of FLX decreased molecular expression of a specific group of mature neurons in the prefrontal cortex while also increasing expression of an immature group of neurons typically active in the developing brains of juveniles. Researchers thus reversed aging in the brains of adult mice. They even gave their discovery a trendy name iYouth, the ‘i’ referring to ‘induced’.
Exciting news, but what are the implications? The prefrontal cortex is critically involved in working memory, decision-making, personality expression, and social behavior, as well as in psychiatric disorders related to deficits in these functions. FLX has received attention for its role in certain behavioral effects like violence, psychosis and aggression. And a deficit of the mature neurons in question has been noted in the prefrontal cortex of postmortem brains of people with schizophrenia.
Researchers acknowledge that while their discovery may eventually help improve the quality of life for an aging population (imagine seniors skateboarding through the halls of retirement homes), it also raises a lot of important questions that bear further research. Is iYouth a good thing? Or would you rather have the wisdom that comes with an aging brain?
Exciting news, but what are the implications? The prefrontal cortex is critically involved in working memory, decision-making, personality expression, and social behavior, as well as in psychiatric disorders related to deficits in these functions. FLX has received attention for its role in certain behavioral effects like violence, psychosis and aggression. And a deficit of the mature neurons in question has been noted in the prefrontal cortex of postmortem brains of people with schizophrenia.
Researchers acknowledge that while their discovery may eventually help improve the quality of life for an aging population (imagine seniors skateboarding through the halls of retirement homes), it also raises a lot of important questions that bear further research. Is iYouth a good thing? Or would you rather have the wisdom that comes with an aging brain?