Could bees hold clues to beating dementia?

A Norwegian scientist may have unlocked an insight into how to reverse dementia, by studying the brain of an unlikely creature - the bee.

Professor Gro Amdam of Arizona State University believes that mental decline is not necessarily an inevitable part of old age, Science Daily reports.

Her work on the bee brain shows that, like people, bees tend to become more forgetful as they advance in years, but by rearranging the social order of a colony so that older bees do the jobs of younger members, their memory improves.

"The question is whether we would be able to figure out how to tap into this flexibility," she said.

"Another approach would be to try to figure out how the relevant bee proteins work, and then create substances that trigger similar effects."

The news comes as dementia experts prepare to gather in Toronto for the 26th annual conference of Alzheimer's Disease International.

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