Scientists find hidden driver of aging and a simple amino acid that fights memory loss in mice

What if some of the changes we associate with aging begin with the loss of a single protein deep inside the brain? Scientists investigating that possibility found that restoring a protein called Menin in older mice improved memory, balance, bone mass, and skin thickness in just 30 days. Even more surprisingly, supplementing the animals with a naturally occurring amino acid improved their learning and memory in only three weeks.

The findings, originally published in March 2023 in PLOS Biology , came from researchers led by Lige Leng of Xiamen University in China. Their experiments identified a previously overlooked connection between inflammation, brain chemistry, and aging throughout the body. Although the results were obtained in mice, they raised an intriguing possibility: Some effects of aging may be influenced by biological processes in the brain that scientists could eventually learn to modify.