{"id":10471,"date":"2017-11-15T20:48:15","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T20:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=10471"},"modified":"2017-11-15T20:48:15","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T20:48:15","slug":"researchers-find-pathological-signs-of-alzheimers-in-dolphins-whose-brains-are-much-like-humans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/researchers-find-pathological-signs-of-alzheimers-in-dolphins-whose-brains-are-much-like-humans\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers find pathological signs of Alzheimer’s in dolphins, whose brains are much like humans’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maria Carolina Gallego-Iradi<\/a>, University of Florida<\/a><\/em> and David Borchelt<\/a>, University of Florida<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A team of scientists in the United Kingdom and the U.S. recently reported the discovery of pathological signs<\/a> of Alzheimer\u2019s disease in dolphins, animals whose brains are similar in many ways to those of humans.<\/p>\n

This is the first time that these signs \u2013 neurofibrillary tangles and two kinds of protein clusters called plaques<\/a> \u2013 have been discovered together in marine mammals. As neuroscience researchers, we believe this discovery has added significance because of the similarities between dolphin brains and human brains.<\/p>\n

The new finding in dolphins supports the research team\u2019s hypothesis that two factors conspire to raise the risk of developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease in dolphins. <\/p>\n

Those factors are: longevity with a long post-fertility life span<\/a> \u2013 that is, a species living, on average, many years after the child-bearing years are over \u2013 and insulin signaling.<\/p>\n

Gallego-Iradi, one of the authors of the paper, began the study on the dolphins\u2019 brains more than a decade ago on the shores of Spain. It took several more years for other researchers to establish the connection between metabolic dysfunction and insulin resistance in dolphins and humans. This recent study also did that. <\/p>\n

Together, the insight into the similarities between dolphins and humans has led us to hypothesize that Alzheimer\u2019s and diabetes are diseases not of old age but of a long post-fertility life span. <\/p>\n

A disastrous disease<\/h2>\n

Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a> is a progressive brain disease that leads to memory loss and changes in cognitive ability. There is no cure, and the disease ultimately leads to death. <\/p>\n

It is hard to overstate the burden of the disease, both on those who are diagnosed with it and their families. It is the sixth-leading cause of death<\/a> in the U.S. Deaths from the disease in the U.S. rose 55 percent<\/a> from 1999 to 2014. <\/p>\n

Alzheimer\u2019s disease has two major pathological hallmarks: The development of clusters of a protein called beta-amyloid<\/a> outside the cells and tangles of another protein called tau<\/a> inside the cell. <\/p>\n

The protein clusters outside the cells are called senile plaques. The tangles inside are called neurofibrillary tangles. <\/p>\n

We saw both of these in the brains of the deceased dolphins. <\/p>\n

The big brain theory<\/h2>\n

Dolphins belong to an order of mammals called cetaceans<\/a> that have adapted to live in the water. <\/p>\n

Although dolphins live in water and humans live on Earth, dolphins and humans are very much alike in some key ways. In the last 50-60 million years, the brains of dolphins and other cetaceans<\/a>, including porpoises and whales, have hyperexpanded. So have human brains. This is a process called enchephalization<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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