Figure 3.

Functional properties of microglia in the normal and aged brain. Ageing has been demonstrated to significantly impact the functionality of microglia. Age-associated changes in motility, proliferation, phagocytosis, and gene expression profiles of microglia are thought to be, in part, as a consequence of cumulative activation in response to systemic infections over time. These changes can lead to a complete loss of function, but also dysfunction and even hyper-reactive responses in aged microglia, thus reducing these cells capacity to effectively survey the CNS environment, maintain homeostasis, and respond both rapidly and efficiently to injury and disease.