Genes and a healthy environment can prolong lifespan
A team of researchers from the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions have found that a certain gene in the brain’s dopamine system, if coupled with a healthy environment that includes exercise, can be a significant factor in lengthening lifespan.
Panayotis (Peter) K. Thanos, RIA senior research scientist, led the study on the genes in dopamine to evaluate its impact on lifespan and behavior in mice. Dopamine is neurotransmitter that helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure system. It also helps regulate movement and emotional responses.
“The incorporation of exercise is an important component of an enriched environment and its benefits have been shown to be a powerful mediator of brain function and behavior,” Thanos says.
The study, which appears in the online version of Oncotarget Aging, found that the dopamine D2 receptor gene (D2R) has a significant influence in locomotor activity, body weight, and lifespan. But only when it was combined with a healthy environment that included sensory and cognitive stimulation, social interaction, and most importantly, exercise.
The mice in the healthier environment lived anywhere from 16 to 22 percent longer than those in a deprived environment, depending on the level of D2R expression.
According to Thanos, the results that they have found give us the first evidence of the importance of D2R gene-environment interaction in aging and longevity. “The dichotomy over genes versus environment has provided a rigorous and long debate in deciphering individual differences in longevity. In truth, there exists a complex interaction between the two which contribute to the differences.”
Studies that explore the genetic-environmental interaction should help scientists better understand and predict the potential benefits of specific environments on health during aging and longevity.
The study’s authors include Thanos, John Hamilton, MA, and Joseph R. O’Rourke, MA, UB Research Institute on Addictions; Anthony Napoli, PhD, Suffolk Community College; Marcelo Febo, PhD, Kenneth Blum, PhD, and Mark Gold, MD, University of Florida, and Nora Volkow, MD, National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Source: Buffalo
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