Scientists have proven that the brain can grow new neurons throughout its life

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Learn to trigger this process - protect yourself from depression, PTSD, and even Alzheimer's.

Nerve cells are restored. This thesis, at first glance, does not seem to be news anymore. But in fact, the scientific world is still arguing about this.

In 2018, published in the journal Nature, experts questioned: does neurogenesis even exist in adulthood? Researchers have unequivocally found an increase in the number of new neurons in children. However, the same processes were not revealed in people over 18 years old.

In 2019, a new study returned the balance: neurogenesis in adults is still found! This is stated in the Scientific American edition.

Lifehacker clarified the details.

Why New Neurons in Adults Have Not Been Detected Before

Perhaps it's all about a technical error. Researchers at the Autonomous University of Madrid tested various methods of preserving brain tissue in 58 deceased people. It turned out that different methods lead to different conclusions. It is enough to slightly change the way the brain is stored, and the marker cells that mark the presence of new neurons are destroyed.

After 12 hours, markers of new neurons disappear. There are new nerve cells, but we cannot find them.

Maria Llorens-Martin neurologist at the Autonomous University of Madrid

The Spaniards put forward this version: earlier, researchers did not find new neurons in the brain of adults just because the brain was stored incorrectly.

Other scientists agree with her. For example, a professor at the University of Texas Jenny Sie says that the conclusion of the Spanish researchers is a lesson: "We must be more careful about technical issues."

How new neurons and Alzheimer's disease were linked

Llorence-Martin began collecting and preserving brain samples in 2010 when she first realized that the problem with finding neurogenesis in adults could be improper storage. Then, together with a team of other scientists, she examined the brains of two categories of people. The first are those who died with their memories intact. The second are those who have passed away at various stages of Alzheimer's disease.

The researchers found that there are significantly fewer new neurons in the hippocampus (the region of the brain responsible for memory) in people with Alzheimer's disease than in healthy people.

By comparison, the hippocampus of a 78-year-old man who died in sound mind and memory contains about 23,000 new neurons per cubic millimeter of brain tissue. The one who passed away in the midst of Alzheimer's disease has about 10,000 per cubic millimeter.

According to the Spaniards, a decrease in the number of new neurons - if it could be detected in a living brain - could be an early symptom of the development of Alzheimer's disease. And, perhaps, this ailment could have been prevented altogether if the hippocampus was forced to grow new cells in time.

However, we can talk not only about Alzheimer's disease.

How new neurons can be useful for you personally

Neurogenesis was discovered in 1998 by the neuroscientist Rusty Gage, now president of the Salk Institute for Biological Research. Today, Gage is one of those who applaud the new study.

According to the professor, the ability of the hippocampus to grow new nerve cells is of great importance. In particular, it is she who protects against the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Animal studies have shown neurogenesis helps them distinguish between two similar events. The brains of people with PTSD do not know how to do this. Therefore, he reacts to situations from the present as violently as to traumatic events from the past. Most likely, the reason is that new neurons are no longer produced in the hippocampus of patients with PTSD.

The same animal experiments established other relationships. There is neurogenesis, which means that the animal is more resistant to stressful situations. No neurogenesis - the brain is more susceptible to mood disorders up to depression. Moreover, with cognitive functions, he becomes not very much.

How to get the brain to create new neurons

Experiments on humans have not yet been carried out. But scientists have already managed to improve neurogenesis in mice and rats. And by simple methods: the animals were simply forced to move more, encouraged to communicate with each other and explore something new.

Chances are, the same methods will work in humans as well. “It is unlikely to help in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease. But if we started to act early, we could slow down or even prevent the loss of neuroplasticity,”says Maria Llorens-Martin.