Certain cells in the brain create a nurturing environment, enhancing the health and resilience of their neighbors, while others promote stress and damage. Using spatial transcriptomics and AI, researchers at Stanford’s Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience discovered these interactions playing out across the lifespan—suggesting local cellular interactions may significantly influence brain aging and resilience.
A new study was published in Nature in an article titled, “Spatial transcriptomic clocks reveal cell proximity effects in brain aging.”
“What was exciting to us was finding that some cells have a pro-aging effect on neighboring cells while others appear to have a rejuvenating effect on their neighbors,” said Anne Brunet, the Michele and Timothy Barakett Endowed Professor in Stanford’s department of genetics and co-senior investigator of the new study.
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