Are telomeres shorter in different parts of the body depending on usage of that part? For example, will someone who reads books and develops Alzheimers have shorter telomeres in their brain since they used it more?

Question

Do any studies support the idea that since telomeres degrade with each copy/certain confounding variables, that those that “use it” actually “lose it” after a certain point?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Telomeres cease to be relevant when you’re talking about the brain, because neurons don’t replicate. Since they never replicate they never divide their DNA, so telomeres make no difference.