Researchers say older adults, youngsters grow same amount of new brain cells

A new study has discovered elderly people and young people grow the same amount of new brain cells, the Daily Mail reported.

Columbia University researchers found healthy 79-year-olds, both male and female, generated the same amount of brain cells as a teenager.

The research provides evidence that older people could be less cognitively and emotionally undamaged than previously thought, lead author Dr Maura Boldrini, associate professor of neurobiology at Columbia University told the Daily Mail.

Because neurons are building blocks of the brain's circuitry, a strong circuitry is more able to create new memories.  If there is a break in the circuit-building process it could make it challenging to form memories. Previous research suggested adults could not grow new neurons because their brain was 'hard-wired', according to the report.

However the new study contradicts those notions. The findings could help lead to better treatments for neurological conditions like Alzheimer's disease.

"What we would like to do next is to understand the molecules that regulate the survival and maturation of these cells, and could possibly compare them to the brains of people with Alzheimer's and vascular dementia," Dr Boldrini told the Daily Mail.

The study was originally published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.