Cellular and synaptic alterations in the aging brain

Aging : Clinical and Experimental Research
L F AgnatiI Zini

Abstract

The morphological and functional impairments observed in the aging brain are discussed in the framework of theoretical concepts, such as the existence of different modalities of intercellular communication and of specific trophic features in the central nervous system. The relevance of changes at the cellular level (disappearance of neuronal cell bodies and proliferation of astroglial cells) and at the synaptic level (alterations in neurotransmitter and receptor levels) is discussed. Two, non-mutually exclusive hypotheses are advanced to explain the frequent absence of correlation between neuropathological findings and functional deficits in aged patients. According to the first, the physiological reshaping of brain circuits during aging may lead to "wrong" readjustments of neural networks (e.g. due to less effective endogenous and exogenous orienting signals) causing minor morphological alterations but marked functional deficits. The second hypothesis maintains that the absence of correlation between neuropathological and functional deficits is due to the impairment of restricted neuronal populations ("pacemaker and command neurons") which play a special role in the hierarchical organization of neuronal networks. These neurons...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 1, 1993·Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy·M ZoliL F Agnati
Feb 1, 1993·Aging : Clinical and Experimental Research·G MurialdoA Polleri
Jan 1, 1996·European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology·G S AndersonI B Mekjavic
Aug 1, 1992·Acta Physiologica Scandinavica·L F AgnatiK Fuxe
Mar 6, 2008·Experimental Brain Research·J Florian M Müller-DahlhausUlf Ziemann
Apr 1, 1996·Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology·K FuxeL F Agnati
Aug 1, 1992·Psychoneuroendocrinology·G Valenti
Dec 26, 1992·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·L F AgnatiI Zini
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Jul 1, 1996·Neurobiology of Aging·G K Pyapali, D A Turner
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