Scientists from the University of Washington have uncovered an important clue about keeping your brain healthy as you age: the condition of your blood-brain barrier.
This barrier is a network of blood vessels that acts as a filter, protecting the brain from harmful substances while allowing essential nutrients to pass through.
It also helps remove toxins from the brain. However, as people age, the barrier’s function can weaken, potentially leading to memory problems and brain diseases.
The researchers reviewed over 150 scientific articles to understand how the blood-brain barrier changes with age. One key finding was that even in healthy older adults, small leaks in the barrier are normal and may contribute to mild memory lapses commonly associated with aging.
However, when the barrier becomes more damaged, it can lead to more serious issues, including Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.
The blood-brain barrier is not a solid wall—it carefully regulates what enters and exits the brain. It supplies the brain with nutrients and informational molecules while removing harmful waste products, like amyloid beta-peptide.
Amyloid beta-peptide is a protein that, when it accumulates, can form plaques in the brain—a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. The study found that as people age, the pumps in the blood-brain barrier that clear amyloid beta-peptide work less effectively, allowing these plaques to build up more easily.
This decline is even more pronounced in people who carry a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s known as the ApoE4 allele.
For individuals with ApoE4, changes in the blood-brain barrier happen faster, making it harder for their brains to remove harmful substances. This could explain why people with this gene are at higher risk for Alzheimer’s.
The researchers noted that protecting the blood-brain barrier might be a way to slow or prevent the progression of memory loss and dementia.
The study also highlighted two specific types of cells in the blood-brain barrier—pericytes and astrocytes—that change as people age. Pericytes help maintain the barrier’s strength and prevent leaks, but they tend to decline with age, especially in people with Alzheimer’s.
Astrocytes, on the other hand, can become overactive and may contribute to the barrier’s dysfunction. The loss of pericytes and the overactivity of astrocytes together may lead to the leaks seen in aging brains.
Interestingly, there is hope for preserving the health of pericytes. Research suggests that lifestyle choices like regular exercise, reducing calorie intake, and using certain therapies like rapamycin may help protect these cells and, by extension, the blood-brain barrier.
This study emphasizes the importance of the blood-brain barrier in keeping the brain healthy and functioning well. It shows that age-related changes to the barrier are natural but can become problematic if worsened by genetic factors or diseases like Alzheimer’s.
By understanding how this barrier works and how it changes over time, scientists may develop new strategies to prevent or delay brain-related illnesses.
The research, led by William Banks, was published in Nature Aging. It offers valuable insights into the connections between the blood-brain barrier, memory, and aging, providing hope for better prevention and treatment of dementia and other brain disorders.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about low choline intake linked to higher dementia risk, and how eating nuts can affect your cognitive ability.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that blueberry supplements may prevent cognitive decline, and results showing higher magnesium intake could help benefit brain health.
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