Sea squirt plasmalogens could help fight brain aging, study shows
Scientists have found that sea squirts (a marine animal enjoyed in Korea and Japan) could be a surprising key to fighting brain aging.
These creatures are loaded with plasmalogens, a type of lipid abundant in the brain, that naturally decrease as we get older.
Lower plasmalogen levels are linked to Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, so researchers decided to see what would happen if they boosted them.
Plasmalogens boosted memory in older mice
When older mice were given sea squirt plasmalogens, they showed big improvements in learning and memory, much more similar to young mice on maze tests.
Their brains had more synapses and less inflammation too.
It's early days (so far, this is just in mice), but the study hints that these sea creature lipids could help explain the mouse findings.