Scientists discover a major brain shift between ages 50 and 75

Researchers have found that the human brain begins undergoing broad changes in the way its genome is regulated starting in midlife. The findings may help explain why age is the strongest risk factor for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

In a new study published in Science , scientists used advanced single-cell methods to examine gene regulation and three-dimensional genome organization in individual cells from the human hippocampus, a brain region essential for learning and memory. By analyzing samples from adults across a wide range of ages, the team created one of the most detailed pictures yet of how genome regulation shifts as the brain grows older.

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