A gene variant that has an anti-aging effect could also benefit brain function.
The variant comes from the KLOTHO gene; its ability to improve learning and memory may not necessarily be associated with aging, a Cell Press news release reported. The variant works by increasing the amount of Klotho in the bloodstream and brain.
Klotho does occur in aging mice, but it is seen in young animals as well.
"Based on what was known about klotho, we expected it to affect the brain by changing the aging process," Lennart Mucke of the Gladstone Institute and the University of California, San Francisco, who directed the study, said in the news release. "But this is not what we found, which suggests to us that we are on to something new and different."
Aging is a primary cause of mental decline; researchers wondered if a factor that promotes longevity would also be associated with cognition.
To make their findings a research team looked at three cohort studies that looked at aging. The team found that people who possessed the life-extending variants of the KLOTHO gene tended to get higher scores on cognitive tests. The higher score were associated with elevated levels of klotho.
The team also conducted a study involving mice that were genetically-engineered to express above-average klotho levels.
"Mice with elevated klotho performed twice as well as controls in some cognitive tests - such as remembering where a hidden platform was located in a water maze," Dubal said.
The team also found mice with higher klotho levels had a better flexibility of neural connections, which are the "cellular basis" for learning and memory.
"Because cognition is a highly valued aspect of brain function that diminishes with aging and disease, the potential to enhance it even slightly is of great potential relevance to the human condition," Dubal said.
