Neurons commit suicide because of loneliness

When studying the processes occurring in the developing brain, Australian scientists from the Queensland Brain Institute, working under the guidance of Dr. Elizabeth Coulson, have identified an important factor that causes cell death in neurodegenerative diseases.

The authors found that approximately twice as many neurons are formed in the child's brain than is necessary for the functioning of the brain. At the same time, only those cells that receive both electrical and chemical signals survive, and non-functioning cells die.

According to Coulson, if a nerve cell does not receive enough stimuli from surrounding cells, it starts the process of self-destruction (apoptosis). The mechanism of self-destruction plays an important role in stroke, Alzheimer's disease and motor neuron diseases, leading to the loss of nerve cells necessary for the full functioning of the adult brain.

The authors believe that to block the mechanism of self-destruction of "at-risk" nerve cells, it is enough to influence them with specially generated electrical impulses. In the near future, they plan to test their theory in the laboratory, but the ultimate goal of the study is to develop methods for treating not only strokes and neurodegenerative diseases, but also diseases such as depression and dementia.

If the technique of artificial stimulation of neurons to prevent their death works, it would be interesting to test it on newborn mice, then on monkeys, and then…

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily

13.02.2008