2^nd World Brain Congress

Neuro Regeneration & Aging

Aging causes a slow deterioration of the brain function leading to cognitive decline, memory loss, movement disorders and finally to functional decline and death. With a rapidly increasing aging population, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer′s, Parkinson′s, and Huntington′s become an important economic burden on the society. Unfortunately, there are no effective current therapies. Therefore, it is quite urgent to find strategies that will lead to therapeutic benefits for the patients. Since aging is the major risk factor for the age-related neurodegenerative disorders, interfering with age-related molecular mechanisms or pathways might be an avenue to develop new therapeutics.

Aging is a regulated process with different molecular and genetic mechanisms involved. There are three known longevity intervention pathways: reduced insulin-like signaling, increased AMPK (AMPdependent protein kinase)/reduced TOR (target of rapamycin) and sirtuins,  Sirtuins are NAD-dependent protein deacetylases that were shown to display neuroprotective effects against age-related brain disorders. There are seven mammalian sirtuin homologs named as SIRT. The most conserved member of the family, SIRT1, has been widely studied in neurodegenerative diseases.

 Studies concerning neuronal and glial development and the formation of the nervous system, molecular and cellular aspects of degeneration and regeneration, and changes associated with the aging brain.