Three hundred thirty-seven compounds change in a hamster’s brain during short periods of hibernation. Researchers in Spain say hibernation creates tangled structures in the brain that resemble Alzheimer’s disease in humans. When the hamster wakes up, its brain returns to normal. Understanding how the hamster brain manages hibernation may lead to Alzheimer’s treatments. For the complete article follow our link to the Boston Globe.
Big Data: Similarities between hibernation and Alzheimer’s
By David Scharfenberg | Boston Globe
337. That’s the number of compounds that change in the Syrian hamster’s brain during short periods of hibernation. Spanish researchers say the hibernation process creates tangled structures that resemble Alzheimer’s disease in humans. But when the hamster wakes up, the structures revert to normal. Understanding how the hamster brain manages hibernation, Science Daily reports, could lead to Alzheimer’s treatments. Read More
