Alzheimer's: Backup internal clock may offer protection, study says

Researchers say an internal backup clock may be protecting some people from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and ALS.

A core group of genes control people's circadian rhythms and therefore, sleeping patterns. As people age, those rhythms start to break down which may lead to neurological problems. But a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that some people have a backup clock that takes over.  

"We found this other set of genes that gained rhythmnicity as people got older and this was a very unexpected finding. So we think it may be an attempt by the brain to compensate for the loss of rhythm that is happening in older people naturally," said the study's author, Colleen McClung.

Link between a healthy brain and backup clocks

McClung, a neuroscientist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, says this finding may have big implications for future research into age-related diseases like dementia.

"It seems like [circadian rhythms] plays a very prominent role in protecting neurons because your neurons have to be active at certain times of day, and resting at certain times of day," she said.  

"So if this is out of whack, it can really hurt the metabolism of these neurons and may ultimately lead to neurodegeneration."

But McClung found that some people had genes that displayed stronger rhythms despite aging.

"We think that this backup clock that was kicking in may be protective in these people against certain neurodegenerative diseases."

The next step is to look at people who have diseases like Alzheimer's and "determine if they have a more extreme loss of rhythmnicity or they don't have this backup clock," said McClung.

To listen to the full audio, click the link labelled: Internal backup clock may protect some people against age-related diseases.