Figure 1. Lifestyle Factors Might Hijack Microglia Regulation and Predispose Individuals to Neurodegeneration.
ELS, chronic adult stress, or changes in diet, microbiota, or social contexts might predispose individuals to neurodegenerative disease onset, as observed by associations with neuronal loss, cognitive deficits, and AD-related pathology. These phenotypes during aging could be influenced by a change in an individual’s dietary pattern, changes in an individual’s microbiota, and drug medications such as SSRIs. This preventive mechanism could be acting through astrocyte release of TGF-b that could modulate microglial functions and restore a phenotype that can stop neurodegeneration.