Memory problems may not be an unavoidable part of getting older. New findings from Virginia Tech reveal that age-related memory loss stems from specific molecular changes in the brain, and that fine-tuning these processes can help restore memory function.
In two complementary studies, Timothy Jarome, an associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ School of Animal Sciences, and his graduate students used advanced gene-editing tools to target these molecular changes and improve memory performance in older rats. Rats are commonly used as models for understanding how memory declines with age.
“Memory loss affects more than a third of people over 70, and it’s a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease,” said Jarome, who also serves in the School of Neuroscience. “This work shows that memory decline is linked to specific molecular changes that can be targeted and studied. If we can understand what’s driving it at the molecular level, we can start to understand what goes wrong in dementia and eventually use that knowledge to guide new approaches to treatment.”
