While many believe that mature brain cells do not grow, a researcher at the Learning and Memory Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has indicated that the regeneration of neural structures actually continues in the mature brain. This discovery paves the way for developing new cells to replace those damaged by disease or spinal cord injury.
While scientists have primarily focused on attempting to regenerate damaged axons at spinal cord injury sites, this new discovery targets another part of the neuron: dendritic spines. Dendritic spines are branches of neurons that transmit stimulation to the neuron’s cell body.
Researchers employed a method known as two-photon imaging to monitor specific neurons in the surface layers of the visual cortex in mice. With the assistance of a technique similar to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but more sophisticated, called cellular resolution, they were able to stitch together two-dimensional layers to recreate the first three-dimensional neurons in the adult cortex. The dendritic branches were measured over several weeks to assess physical changes.
The results showed that neuronal branches grew together, reaching out to each other, with some branches extending up to 90 microns long.
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