eBRAIN Faculty Dr. Caterina Rosano points to a fascinating link between the brain and muscle health as we age. In her latest paper, Striatal Dopamine and Skeletal Muscle Energy Metabolism in Older Adults, Dr. Rosano and her team explore whether dopamine (a chemical messenger in the brain best known for its role in motivation and reward) might also influence how well our muscles produce energy.
In a study of 146 adults aged 70 and older, they found that people with higher dopamine activity in a specific brain region tied to motivation had muscles that were better at generating the energy needed for physical activity. The findings, published in the Journal of Gerontology, suggest that keeping the brain’s dopamine system healthy may be just as important for maintaining muscle function in older age as exercise and diet, and could open new doors for helping older adults stay strong and mobile.
