Keeping the Aging Brain Healthy, Longer

A small smile. A quiet laugh. These subtle communications revealed to Ansh Bhammar, A&S ’18, the personalities of the late-stage Alzheimer’s patients at the veterans’ hospital where he volunteered during high school.

“I began to really understand a lot of the intricacies of each individual person, and I came to realize how fragile they were, but also how easy it was to just ignore them, to almost dehumanize them,” says Bhammar, who vowed to help this population in every way he could.

Since his freshman year, Bhammar has worked in the lab of Michela Gallagher, PhD, the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience. He is part of a team investigating how the firing of neurons in the brain is connected to the progression of Alzheimer’s, a disease which affects one-third of those aged 85 and older in the United States.

In a healthy brain, a balance exists between neural excitation and inhibition, between a lot or a little synaptic activity, explains Bhammar, who is an Albstein Undergraduate Research Fellow. “But neurons can be hyperactive. They can fire too much or too little, and we see a hyperactivity signal in aging in general,” he says, alluding to past conclusions of Gallagher’s research.

Using animal models, the research team has developed the hypothesis that animals that do not show cognitive decline are able to maintain a healthy balance by increasing their inhibition to counteract the increased excitation (synaptic hyperactivity that develops with age). Conversely, in those with cognitive decline, an imbalance is created.

“The next step is to figure out how can we fix this ratio in cognitively impaired animals and patients, and in turn, hopefully bring them to become cognitively intact,” says Bhammar. His own project in the lab is examining the genetic expressions resulting from the synaptic activity and studying the ratios that exist.

“Being able to have the responsibility to really drive a project has been a truly rewarding experience. It really lets me think actively about what the research means, where it could go, and what are the potential implications,” says Bhammar, who selected Johns Hopkins because of its emphasis on undergraduate research.

“In receiving support from the Phyllis F. Albstein Fund, I’ve really been able to accelerate the pace at which my research project has taken place,” adds Bhammar, whose long-term plan is to become a geriatric neurologist. Bhammar also received an O’Connor Fellowship for his start-up company ForagerOne LLC, as well as a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.

“Ultimately, my goal is to continue working with the Alzheimer patients and dedicate my entire career towards them,” he says.