Could the gut be driving age-related memory loss?

On average, human memory declines with age. However, there is substantial variation among individuals: some experience a rapid decline, whereas others barely notice a change.

With our rapidly aging population, understanding why some people are affected while others are not is important work. A new animal study, published in Nature , concludes that memory problems associated with age may be driven by our gut and the bacteria that live within it.

In particular, the effect appears to depend on how the body perceives and responds to its internal environment, which is called interoception. Their results may inform novel approaches to mitigating age-related memory deficits.

Although the study is in animals, the results are likely to spark much more research. Exteroception is our ability to sense the outside world: Sights, smells, sounds, and so on.

Interoception, on the other hand, is the body’s ability to monitor its internal state. The vagus nerve, which travels between the brain and all the major organs, is a superhighway for interoreception.