San Diego scientists build brain atlas to help disease research
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Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla have created a new tool to better understand how aging affects our brains.
Why it matters: Aging is a major risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's that affect millions of Americans.
Zoom in: The tool is a detailed "atlas" of mouse brain cells that can tell researchers more about how human brains deteriorate and lose function as we age, potentially leading to earlier, more targeted treatments, Salk professor and scientist Joseph Ecker told Axios.
- Any researcher, scientist or company can access the publicly available atlas, published online in Cell in March, and use it as a reference map of a healthy, aging brain.
- "You need to have that before you can understand what's going wrong in disease," Ecker said.
For example, the level of detail in the atlas can show how gene activity changes across brain regions and cell types during the aging process, which could help researchers identify which cell types to target in future therapies, Ecker explained.
The intrigue: They found that not all parts of the brain age at the same pace, which helps explain why some people lose certain abilities, like memory, faster than others, he said.
Zoom out: A record 7.2 million Americans over 65 are now living with Alzheimer's, and the risk increases with age.
- The odds of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's are higher in San Diego than in many other parts of the country, and those diagnoses are key to driving new tests, clinical trials and treatments.
- Detecting early signs and addressing cognitive decline sooner can help prevent or delay the disease, which is particularly important for San Diego County's growing senior population.