Scientists find key to ageing process deep in our brains

Scientists have found a region in the brain that controls ageing — opening up possibilities for slowing age-related diseases and increasing lifespan.

In tests, they found the signalling pathway in the brain region known as the hypothalamus, could speed up or slow down ageing in mice. If it applies in humans, it could have huge potential.

“There’s really not much understanding regarding the mechanism of ageing,” said senior author Dr Dongsheng Cai, a molecular pharmacologist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

The process of ageing could involve chaotic, passive changes in individual tissues or organs, or it could be controlled centrally by a single organ — or both, Dr Cai told LiveScience.

The hypothalamus, an almond-size structure deep inside the brain, is known to control important functions, including growth, development, reproduction and metabolism.

Now, Dr Cai and his team have found an immune system pathway in the hypothalamus that also has a role in controlling ageing.

Meanwhile, a tiny device implanted in the brain of epilepsy sufferers has for the fist time been able to predict the onset of seizures.

The potentially life-saving device works with electrodes that monitor electrical activity on the brain surface, according to The Lancet Neurology.

The electrodes were connected to a second device implanted under the skin of the chest, which transmitted the data wirelessly to a handheld device that calculated the probability of a seizure.

The device lights up in red for a high risk, white for moderate, or blue for low seizure probability.