Skip to main content RSS Info Close Search Facebook Twitter
Location
Category
Providers / Vacancies
Feedback

Onset of dementia in Huntington’s disease can be delayed

Scientists at Melbourne’s Howard Florey Institute have discovered that mental and physical stimulation delays the onset of dementia in the fatal genetic disease, Huntington’s disease.

This Australian research opens up new therapeutic possibilities for other devastating and difficult to treat brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease where dementia is a key component.

The Florey’s Dr Jess Nithianantharajah and Dr Anthony Hannan showed mice with the Huntington’s disease gene displayed impairments on learning and memory tests at an early stage of the disease, prior to the obvious signs of movement problems. This closely correlates with observations in Huntington’s disease patients.

However, Dr Jess Nithianantharajah said by providing the mice with an enriched environment that enhanced their mental and physical stimulation, the mice performed better on these memory tests.

“This discovery is quite remarkable because we have shown that an enriched environment not only delayed the onset of dementia, but it also slowed the progression of memory loss in these mice,” Dr Jess Nithianantharajah said.

This research was recently published in the international Journal of Neurobiology of Disease and involved collaborations between the Howard Florey Institute and the University of Melbourne.

Share this article

Read next

Subscribe

Subscribe to our Talking Aged Care newsletter to get our latest articles, delivered straight to your inbox
  1. Eighty years after getting married, this couple lives together...
  2. Who says your age should limit your dreams?
  3. Data from a recently released report highlights a concerning...
  4. With an ageing and growing population, data from the...
  5. Approximately 411,000 Australians are estimated to be living...
  6. How could you benefit from attending university as an older...

Recent articles

  1. What is a lesser known impact of hearing loss for older...
  2. Are there options for older Australians to live in the same...
  3. The new initiative brings older Aussies together to see the...
  4. A collaboration between Dementia Australia and VistaPrint...
  5. How can you look after yourself during the expected heatwaves...
  6. How is an interactive app being used in aged care settings to...
  7. How could the upcoming strengthening of super standards save...
  8. Brother Thomas Oliver Pickett, a Western Australian volunteer,...
  9. Why is an illegal website targeting older Australians?
  10. Eighty years after getting married, this couple lives together...
  11. How does heart health impact your risk of dementia?
  12. Instead of going to the hospital, could older Australians...
  1. {{ result.posted_at | timeago }}

Sorry, no results were found
Perhaps you misspelled your search query, or need to try using broader search terms.
Please type a topic to search
Some frequently searched topics are "dementia", "elderly" etc
Close