Some Dolphin Brains Exhibit Indicators of Alzheimer’s Disease

According to a new study, dolphins might have some of the same cognitive problems as humans.

Scientists in Scotland claimed to have discovered evidence that three species of dolphins' brains can acquire the hallmark symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

The discoveries might help explain why dolphins become stranded on shore so frequently, but further study is needed to clarify whether they genuinely suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

Dolphins May Get Forgetful?

(Photo : Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent kind of dementia, marked by significant, harmful changes in the brain, as per Gizmodo.

People with the condition, in particular, have an accumulation of the misshaped forms of two proteins prevalent in the body, amyloid beta, and tau.

And it is considered that these aberrant aggregates of amyloid and tau are the driving force behind the brain's degeneration.

Some of these similar brain alterations have been observed in nonhuman animals such as some types of monkeys, other nonhuman apes, and canines, according to research.

However, these animals do not appear to acquire the neurological symptoms found in Alzheimer's sufferers, leading some specialists to suggest that Alzheimer's is a uniquely human sickness.

This new study was conducted by specialists from many institutions as well as the Mordun Research Institute in Scotland.

They hypothesized that dolphin brains were comparable enough to human brains to suffer from this type of dementia.

To put their idea to the test, the researchers examined brain samples from odontocetes, or toothed whales-a group of aquatic mammals that includes dolphins, porpoises, and sperm whales.

They examined the brains of 22 toothed whales from five different species, including 18 older specimens: Risso's dolphins, long-finned pilot whales, white-beaked dolphins, harbor porpoises, and bottlenose dolphins.

These animals had all died after becoming trapped off the coast of Scotland.

Overall, the scientists found four animals from three species with all or most of these Alzheimer's markers in their brains.

The team's findings were published earlier this month in the European Journal of Neuroscience, and featured two long-finned pilot whales, a white-beaked dolphin, and a common bottlenose dolphin.

The findings may lend credence to the "sick-leader" idea, which proposes that dolphins and whales become stranded on land on a frequent basis.

According to this notion, an ill or confused leader might send an otherwise healthy school of dolphins to their demise in shallow waters.

As a result, it's probable that dementia is one of the reasons these leaders become less capable of navigating properly as they age.

However, as intriguing as the work is, the authors remain wary about its immediate consequences.

Simply demonstrating that these brain alterations can occur in dolphins does not guarantee that they will get Alzheimer's disease.

Even in people, there is still a lot we don't know about the biology of this disease.

Also Read: 10 Disturbing Facts About Dolphins You'll Wish You Never Knew!

The genetic aspects of Alzheimer's

While there are some uncommon examples of familial early-onset Alzheimer's disease caused by a single genetic flaw, the disease is frequently complex, as per animalresearch.info.

According to research, persons who have a parent or sibling with Alzheimer's are more likely to get the condition than those who do not have a first-degree relative with the disease; however, family history is not always to blame; environmental variables also play a role.

Genes frequently have just a little impact on a person's risk factor. Researchers have discovered both risk and deterministic Alzheimer's genes.

Risk genes raise the risk of acquiring an illness but do not ensure that it will occur, whereas deterministic genes directly cause a disease, ensuring that everyone who inherits one will acquire one.

The identification of these deterministic genes has offered vital insights into the illness.

All of these genes influence the processing or creation of beta-amyloid proteins, which are the primary suspects in the decline and death of brain cells.

They've also been used to create genetically engineered mice with the illness.

Mice genetically designed to develop Alzheimer's disease have significantly allowed scientists to demonstrate that Aß reaches the brain by piggybacking on a non-toxic protein called RAGE, which is overproduced in Alzheimer's mice and readily penetrates the blood-brain barrier.

Animal studies using genetically engineered mice have also revealed how one variant of the human APP gene causes the accumulation of harmful deposits in the brain.