Instead of looking at a thin slice of rat hippocampus, researchers counted
neurons in 3D pieces. They found no evidence that the older rats with memory
impairment had fewer neurons. Though this study needs to be done on human
hippocampuses, this gives reason to think that memory impairment results
from changes in function of neurons (making different proteins, etc.) rather
than in neuronal loss. That's good, because it should make preservation and
restoration of function easier.
Max
Max More, Ph.D. maxmore@primenet.com
http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore
President Extropy Institute (ExI)
Editor Extropy
310-398-0375
http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore/extropy.htm