Ageing, obesity and the survival of neurons in the intestine

Resumo

It is planed that I will join and contribute to an ongoing project concerning changes in neuron numbers with age. We will investigate the relation between age, diet and neuronal loss, and we will measure changes in gastrointestinal function that are associated with the loss. We will determine the age of onset and time course of neuronal and functional loss, and whether the deleterius effects of obesity are reversible by restriction of caloric intake. This will be first study to investigate the reversibility and functional consequences of loss of enteric neurons with age. The overall aim is to determine the relationship between age, diet, weight gain, enteric neuronal loss and functional deficits in the physiology of the colon. (AU)