Human bodies have a central nervous system (CNS) connecting
the brain and spinal cord where sensory and motor impulses are transmitted - this is the physiological basis of our experience of the world.
LA JOLLA, CA — Multiple sclerosis, a debilitating neurological disease, is triggered by self - reactive T cells that successfully infiltrate
the brain and spinal cord where they launch an aggressive autoimmune attack against myelin, the fatty substance that surrounds and insulates nerve fibers.
In this study, Cherqui's team transplanted wildtype HSPCs into an FA mouse model, reporting that the HSPCs engrafted and soon differentiated into macrophages in key regions of the mice's
brain and spinal cord where they appeared to transfer wildtype FXN into deficient neurons and muscle cells.
Not exact matches
Volkow walked through how the analgesic
and rewarding effects of opioids are expressed in pain terminals in the
spinal cord and in the
brain where the drugs impact regions that regulate reward
and pleasure.
A classic example is multiple sclerosis,
where T lymphocytes, together with other inflammatory mediators, damage the protective myelin sheath that encases nerve fibers in the
brain and spinal cord.
When a
spinal cord injury takes place, extensions of nerve cells from the brainstem — the region of the
brain where the command
and coordination for urination takes place — become disconnected from cells in the
spinal cord that control the muscles that squeeze or relax the bladder
and open
and close the urethra.
However, a mystery remains as to why opsins are also expressed in the mammalian
brain and spinal cord,
where they may not receive sufficient light to be light activated.
Next, the researchers looked to the dorsal horn of the
spinal cord,
where signals from peripheral nerves are routed to the
brain,
and found the receptors for Nppb in a group of neurons that release a molecule called gastrin - releasing peptide, or GRP.
The most infectious organs —
where BSE prions cluster — are the
brain and spinal cord, followed, on a less infectious level, by the pineal, pituitary,
and adrenal glands, spleen, tonsils, placenta, lymph nodes, ileum, part of the colon, dura mater,
and cerebrospinal fluid.
But
where neuroscientists are accustomed to seeing only vanilla when it comes to astrocytes — viewing all of them as similar despite their different locations in
brain and spinal cord — they now will have to imagine «31 flavors» or more.
Apparently the NGF injected into the
brain diffused through the motor
and sensory roots of the
spinal cord and reached the sympathetic chain ganglia flanking the
cord,
where it induced the outgrowth of nerve fibers.
For example, smart prosthetic limbs,
brain - computer interfaces designed to bypass
spinal cord injury
and artificial neural networks are all areas
where neural engineering is making a big impact.
Three Foundation researchers — Senior Research Scientists, James Sumowski, Ph.D.,
and Karen Nolan, Ph.D., as well as Assistant Director of Engineering Research Peter Barrance, Ph.D. — will be working with physicians
and other clinical experts at Children's Specialized Hospital,
where they will together investigate ways to improve mobility
and cognition — thinking, learning
and memory — in children with various challenges, including
brain and spinal cord injuries.
At issue are neural tube defects, which include anencephaly, a fatal condition
where a baby's
brain does not develop,
and a paralyzing
spinal cord deformity known as spina bifida.
Before you curl a dumbbell an electrical signal starts in your
brain and travels down your
spinal cord to the lower cervical region
where it activates a different nerve that goes out to your biceps.
Cerebrospinal demyelination: a condition
where the neurons of the
brain and spinal cord are malformed, lacking a specialized sheath, which causes malfunction.
Cerebellar
and extrapyramidal abiotrophy: a condition
where the neurons in the cerebellum part of the
brain and parts of the
spinal cord are malformed
and eventually malfunction.
Brain injuries,
spinal cord damage, paralysis,
and amputations are examples of the kinds of injuries
where these resources prove essential.