The importance of being subtle: small changes in calcium homeostatis control cognitive decline in normal aging

Emil Toescu, A Verkhratsky

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    133 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Aging is a complex, multifactorial process. one of the features of normal aging of the brain is a decline in cognitive functions and much experimental attention has been devoted to understanding this process. Evidence accumulated in the last decade indicates that such functional changes are not due to gross morphological alterations, but to subtle functional modification of synaptic connectivity and intracellular signalling and metabolism. Such synaptic modifications are compatible with a normal level of activity and allow the maintenance of a certain degree of functional reserve. This is in contrast to the changes in various neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by significant neuronal loss and dramatic and irreversible functional deficit. This whole special issue has been initiated with the intention of focusing on the processes of normal brain aging. In this review, we present data that shows how subtle changes in Ca2+ homeostasis or in the state of various Ca2+-dependent processes or molecules, which occur in aging can have significant functional consequences.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)267-273
    Number of pages7
    JournalAging Cell
    Volume6
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2007

    Keywords

    • cognitive decline
    • Ca homeostasis
    • mitochrondia status in aging
    • Ca2+
    • aging

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