The brain plays a big part in the aging process, and scientists think they’ve pinpointed the specific cells that control it.
In a study of mice, researchers at the Allen Institute identified certain cells that showed “major changes” with age, particularly in one specific “hotspot,” according to a press release.
Mice were chosen because their brains share “many similarities” to human brains.
“Our brain consists of thousands of types of cells, which carry out different functions,” Hongkui Zeng, study co-author and director of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, told Fox News Digital. “Our study shows that different cell types are differentially susceptible to the aging process.”
The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was published in the journal Nature.
The researchers used RNA sequencing and brain-mapping tools to analyze more than 1.2 million brain cells from young mice (2 months old) and older mice (18 months old).
The 18-month-old mice are roughly equivalent to a “late middle-aged human,” the researchers indicated.