Transplanting fetal neurons into the brains of young mice opens a new window on neural plasticity, or flexibility in the brain’s neural circuits. The research, published today in the journal Science, suggests that the brain’s ability to radically adapt to new situations might not be permanently lost in youth, and helps to pinpoint the factors needed to reintroduce this plasticity.

A better understanding of brain plasticity could one day point to new ways to treat brain injury and other neurological problems by returning the brain to a younger, more malleable state.

…

Scientists aren’t yet sure how the cells induce this second period of malleability. Stryker’s team and others had previously shown that the cells’ inhibitory signaling plays a key role–the critical period can be delayed or induced earlier by mimicking the inhibitory effects of the cells with drugs, such as valium. But in these previous experiments, it was not possible to induce a second critical period after the normal one. “Once you’ve had it, can never get another one, at least until these transplant experiments,”

Related External Links

Share/Save/Bookmark