Treatment can slow or reverse age-related memory decline – study

A treatment using particles from stem cells can slow and even reverse aspects of age-related memory decline, new research suggests.

The study found that tiny vesicles, small sacs released by bone marrow stem cells, helped maintain memory and improved communication between brain areas over two years in an experimental model.

Researchers at Boston University worked with middle-aged subjects.

Half received regular infusions of extracellular vesicles from young, healthy donor cells every two weeks for a year and a half, while the other half received a control without vesicles.

The vesicles contain molecules including proteins, lipids and RNAs that help reduce inflammation and support brain cells in responding to age-related stress.

Subjects completed memory and learning tests before and after treatment, and MRI scans assessed how efficiently different brain regions were connected.

At the end of the study, those who received the vesicles showed better working memory and signs of healthier brain connections.

“By applying secreted stem cells, specifically EVs, we found that the ageing brain retains a remarkable capacity for resilience,” said corresponding author Evan Mackie, a PhD student in the university’s department of anatomy and neurobiology.

“Our findings suggest that ageing is not set in stone; that brain health can be supported and maintained even in older age.”

The researchers describe this as the first study of its kind to show the treatment can protect the brain’s structure and function during normal ageing in a model closely related to humans.

Senior author Tara L Moore, professor of anatomy and neurobiology, added: “Because similar vulnerabilities in brain structure and function also occur in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke and brain injury, this approach may one day help protect the brain in both healthy ageing and disease.”