Protein linked to aging may boost memory and learning ability
Over the past 20 years, biologists have shown that proteins called sirtuins can slow the aging process in many animal species.Now an MIT team led by Professor Li-Huei Tsai has revealed that sirtuins can also boost memory and brainpower — a finding that could lead to new drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders.Sirtuins’ effects on brain function, including learning and memory, represent a new and somewhat surprising role, says Tsai, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. “When you review the literature, sirtuins are always associated with longevity, metabolic pathways, calorie restriction, genome stability, and so on. It has never been shown to play a role in synaptic plasticity,” she says.Synaptic plasticity — the ability of neurons to strengthen or weaken their connections in response to new information — is critical to learning and memory. Potential drugs that enhance plasticity by...