The Question of Mental Capacity Development in Old Age Without a Final Verdict

New brain cells can develop even in older people, American scientists have reported, sparking a new debate among experts about whether the development of human mental capacities ever ceases.

An article by scientists from Columbia University in New York published in the journal Stem Cell directly contradicts a Spanish-American study published last month, which stated that the areas of the human brain responsible for memory and learning cease to produce neurons around the age of thirteen.

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Although no study is considered a final verdict, such research is closely monitored as the global population ages, and scientists are trying to better understand how the brain ages alongside the consequences of dementia.

The central focus of the research is the hippocampus, the brain’s ‘headquarters’ for learning and memory. More specifically, scientists are searching for the precursors of new brain cells that will later develop into neurons, which are important for information transfer in the brain.

Columbia scientists used brain samples obtained from the autopsies of 28 people who died suddenly between the ages of 14 and 79 and searched for newly formed neurons.

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– We found that older people have the ability to create thousands of new neurons, similar to that of young people, said the lead author of the study, Professor of Neurobiology Maura Boldrini.

– We also observed similar volumes of the hippocampus across all age groups, she added.

This suggests that many seniors may retain cognitive and emotional abilities longer than previously assumed.

However, Boldrini warns that these new neurons may be less capable of transmitting information in older people due to the aging of their blood vessels.

Controversies

A study published last month in the journal Nature by a group of scientists led by Arturo Alvarez-Buylla from the University of California, San Francisco, claims the opposite.

By studying brain samples from 59 adults and children, we found that “there is no evidence of younger neurons or stem cells that produce new neurons” in the hippocampus of individuals over 18 years old, said Alvarez-Buylla.

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– We found a certain number of neurons in children up to one year old and a few more in children aged between seven and thirteen, said the scientist.

The results of our research indicate that the “hippocampus in humans is largely already built during fetal brain development,” he added at the time.

It was already known that this would spark debates in the scientific community.

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Alvarez-Buylla has already reacted to the research from Columbia scientists. From his laboratory, they say they are not convinced by their conclusions.

– Based on what they publicly presented, it seems that the cells they call new neurons in the hippocampus of older people look and shape significantly different from what would be considered young neurons, Alvarez-Buylla stated as reported by the Los Angeles Times.