Tag: Neuroplasticity

A study published in Cell Reports has shown how the activation of a common protein in neurons improves memory in both worms and mammals. Common between animals This paper begins with a striking fact: C.elegans worms, mice, and people all lose memory with age [1] and for at least one of the same reasons: the...

A review article published in European Neuropsychopharmacology has described how and why psychedelic compounds may be useful in treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. A question of neuroplasticity BrainThe brain is perhaps the most important organ in the body. While many organs are critical to our survival, the brain contains the self. It is responsible...

Molecular Psychiatry has recently published a report from the University of Cambridge detailing how the brain’s extracellular matrix (ECM) changes with age, negatively impacting memory, and how modifying the components of the brain ECM can revitalize memory in mice [1]. What is neuroplasticity? Neuroplasticity is the ability of neurons to form new connections. This ability...

A new study published in Cell Reports has shown that the senolytic navitoclax (ABT-263) helps mice heal from spinal cord injuries [1]. The difference between mice and zebrafish The zebrafish is a well-known species studied for its regenerative abilities, so the researchers began their investigation by examining what happens to the spines of mice and...

Researchers from the Salk Institute have discovered that a protein called Chrdl1, secreted by astrocytes, is responsible for driving synapse maturation and limiting brain plasticity later in life [1]. Abstract In the developing brain, immature synapses contain calcium-permeable AMPA glutamate receptors (AMPARs) that are subsequently replaced with GluA2-containing calcium-impermeable AMPARs as synapses stabilize and mature....

As we age, our brains lose their flexibility; this, in turn, affects our ability to learn, to remember things and to adapt to new situations. The classic example is of older people who are stuck in a rut and unable to change how they think.Some people raise this possibility when any discussion of healthy, longer...