Scientists have discovered markers of Alzheimer’s disease Three types of dolphin brain disease have occurred and corpses have been found stranded on land.
evidence of Massive whale stranding exists from before our own recorded historyBut why dolphins and whales swim to shore in groups is a perennial mystery.
I found a direct link between Naval sonar and a few whalesand among the animals washed up on the shore, there are individuals who are clearly unwell, With a belly full of plastic garbagemost mass strandings provide little to no clues.
Toothed whale (rodent) share some characteristics with peopleinclude (in at least five species we know) Menopause. Their ability to live beyond their reproductive age means they may also be susceptible to late-onset diseases.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of disability in the elderly, progressively impairing memory, learning, and communication. It now appears that similar afflictions can also affect their water-dwelling mammalian relatives.
“Are humans the only ones who get dementia?” To tell Frank Gunn Moore, a neurobiologist at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
“Our findings answer this question because they show that underlying dementia-related pathologies are indeed not exclusive to human patients.”
Leiden University biologist Marissa Vacher and colleagues examined the brains of 22 stranded dolphins looking for biochemical markers present in humans for Alzheimer’s disease. These include amyloid-beta plaques. It is no longer considered a direct cause of The number of sick patients is still increasing.cluster with tau protein When Hyperphosphorylation – When phosphate groups are attached to all possible binding sites of the protein molecule.
They are each a different species of pilot whale (Globicephala melas), Beluga (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) and bottlenose dolphins (Turciopus truncatus). These individuals also exhibited signs of aging, such as tooth wear and loss and an increased ratio of white to gray matter in brain tissue.
Moreover, the locations of brain lesions found in dolphins matched equivalent areas found in humans with Alzheimer’s disease.
Although the researchers were unable to confirm the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease because they were unable to test the level of cognitive impairment in dead animals, there is no record of accumulation of both proteins in disease-free humans.
“We were fascinated by the similarity of brain changes in aging dolphins to those in aging humans and Alzheimer’s disease.” To tell Tara Spiers-Jones, a neuroscientist at the University of Edinburgh.
like a dolphin highly social animalmay help fellow pod members who have begun to struggle with their brains. Researchers point out.
Dolphin strandings are common in one of the species studied. G. Melas,support ‘sick leaderThe theory of this mysterious and deadly action.
“In humans, the first symptoms of cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease include confusion over time and place and disorientation,” Vacher et al. explain in their paper.
“If the pod leader G. Melas It suffers from similar neurodegeneration-related cognitive decline, which can lead to disorientation, which can lead to pods being led into shallow water and subsequently stranded. “
However, “whether these pathological changes contribute to stranding in these animals is an interesting and important question for future research,” said Spiers-Jones. Conclusion.
This research European Journal of Neuroscience.
