NEW DELHI: A new study offers insight into the cognitive decline of normal ageing, shedding light on how ageing contributes to neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases Most of us who have reached their middle age must have experienced a slowing memory and cognition. Until now, scientists did not have a clear picture of the molecular changes that take place in the brain to cause it.

Now, a study on mice has determined that the most pronounced changes occur in the white matter, a type of nervous system tissue that is integral to transmitting signals across the brain.

The study that identified a gene "fingerprint" for brain ageing also examined two treatments — caloric restriction and infusions of plasma from young mice — that affect certain regions of the brain, with the plasma appearing to slow the age-related memory decline.