IPFS News Link • Science, Medicine and Technology
Study: Older Mice Given Blood From Younger Mice Increase Memory and Brain Cell Activity
• http://jonathanturley.org, JONATHAN TURLEY I will look at my students in a whole different light after reading this article of how older mice receiving the blood from younger mice had improved learning and memory. The change from an academic to a vampiric interest in my students is due to these surprising findings in the effect of younger blood on brain cells. As the Guardian reports below, the late Kim Jong-il reportedly injected himself with blood from healthy young virgins in a bid to slow the aging process.
Saul Villeda of Stanford University says that the research does show promise in slowing the aging process as well as combating such conditions as Alzheimer’s. The researchers connected the circulatory systems of an old and young mouse in a process called heterochronic parabiosis.
He found an amazing 20% increase in connections between brain cells.
This use of rodents is not unknown to one other set of “clinical researchers”:
