The connections of the adult brain are difficult to modify , unlike what happens with the brain of the smallest, whose experiences are shaping and modifying their brain connections while it is developing. But is it possible to rejuvenate an adult brain and make it as flexible as when it is young? That is what a team of researchers from the University of California at Irvine (USA) have just achieved, as reported in the journal Neuron .
To achieve this, scientists have transplanted certain types of embryonic neurons that express the neurotransmitter GABA (a main inhibitory neurotransmitter that helps in motor control and vision, among other relevant functions), discovering that the mice used in the experiment had a problem of vision that develops at the beginning of life, called amblyopia, achieved after transplantation, a new period of plasticity in the brain that allowed a rewiring of the adult brain and that the mice could see perfectly , eliminating the vision problem.
Thus, adult brains became young again by reactivating brain plasticity, rapid and robust changes in neural pathways and synapses: “Several weeks after transplantation, when the donor animal’s visual system was going through its critical period, the Amblyopic mice began to see with normal visual acuity, ”explains Melissa Davis, leader of the study.
What applications could this discovery have? The study paves the way for new treatments related to normal brain development such as schizophrenia and autism, currently incurable brain disorders.
