Chemical May Improve Aging Brains
(Washington, AP News, 5/1/03)

Professor Audie G. Leventhal of the University of Utah School of Medicine, and team, assessed neuron activity in the brains of 6 young and 7 old Rhesus monkeys while each was shown light patterns on a computer screen. Earlier research had shown that specific neurons in the brains of younger monkeys are triggered depending on whether a pattern is horizontal, vertical or diagonal. The neurons of older monkeys, on the other hand, fire almost randomly, as though the animals have lost their ability to distinguish specific shapes. When the scientists injected small quantities of gamma - aminobutyric acid (GABA) into the neurons of the older primates, their brains began to respond like those of their younger counterparts. The scientists believe that the GABA promotes focus by blocking stray signals from other firing neurons. These findings suggest that supplementation with GABA may offset the decreased levels that occur with age and thereby counteract the lack of clarity characteristic of aging brains.