What do memory-forming cells in your brain need to communicate properly? Zinc, according to research by researchers at Duke University Medical Center in Durham and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Researchers have managed to observezinc in action while regulating communication between neurons in the hippocampus, where learning and memory processes occur and where a communication disturbance can contribute to epilepsy. The study has been published in the journalNeuron.
According to James McNamara, lead author of the study and director of the Department of Neurobiology at Duke, zinc supplements are commonly sold over the counter for the treatment of various brain disorders, including depression, but it is not clear whether these supplements modify the zinc content in the brain or the efficiency of communication between nerve cells. The researcher emphasizes that people who take zinc supplements should be cautious, waiting for the necessary information on what are the appropriate concentrations of this element.
More than 50 years ago, scientists discovered high concentrations of zinc in specialized compartments of nerve cells, called vesicles, which contain the transmitters that allow nerve cells to communicate. Thehigher concentrations of zinc in the brainare among theneurons in the hippocampus, the brain’s center for learning and memory. The presence of zinc in these vesicles was known to suggest that it played a role in communication between nerve cells, but which one was unknown. Duke’s team has confirmed that removing zinc from the vesicles of genetically modified mice prevents good communication. In addition, they also observed that increasing the neurotransmitter glutamate increases zinc-mediated communication. An excessive increase in the communication of zinc-containing nerve cells produces and worsens epilepsy.
