MIAMI: A new study claims that the same process which enables the brain to learn as well as generate new memories is responsible for cognitive and age-related degeneration. Brain cells are found to physiologically break DNA in order to permit select genes to be expressed. This damage needs to be repaired immediately.
But as we grow older, the ability to fix the damage to the DNA weakens. The observation could eventually lead to new solutions for preventing cognitive decline witnessed in disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. Age and certain genetic conditions cause the efficiency of the DNA repair system to be compromised and accumulate the destruction over time…