25/05/2025
In a groundbreaking study, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered a potential new approach to tackling age-related memory decline. Their research focuses on enhancing the brain’s waste-draining lymphatic vessels, which become less efficient with age, contributing to cognitive issues like memory loss and diseases such as Alzheimer’s. By rejuvenating these vessels in older mice, they observed significant improvements in memory and a reduction in harmful brain inflammation.
The study, published in Cell, targets the meningeal lymphatics, a network of vessels outside the brain that helps clear waste and fluid. As people age, the flow of fluid in the brain declines, making it harder for the brain to clear debris. This buildup strains the brain’s immune cells, which become overwhelmed and less effective at cleaning, eventually leading to cognitive decline. In this study, the researchers improved the function of these lymphatic vessels by stimulating vessel growth in older mice, which led to better memory performance as demonstrated in a simple object recognition test.
The findings suggest that therapies aimed at supporting the lymphatic system could offer a new avenue for treating age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases. By restoring balance to the brain’s cleaning system, the researchers hope to find ways to slow down or even reverse some of the cognitive impacts of aging, opening up possibilities for treatments that don’t directly target the brain itself.
Study : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.02.022
