SOMATIC MUTATIONS IN THE BRAIN - RELATIONSHIP TO AGING

Genetic instability is generally thought to underlie the process of ag ing and is predominantly associated with meiosis and mitosis. This rev iew will discuss DNA damage and repair, somatic mutations and somatic recombination events in non-dividing neurons in relation to aging. In general it can be concluded that mutagenesis operates at high frequenc y in the brain. Present data do not provide clear evidence for accumul ating DNA damage or a change in DNA repair activity in the brain with age. However, a linear age-related increase in frameshift mutations ha s been shown to occur in vasopressin neurons of the rat, revealing a n ovel post-mitotic mechanism.