Brain Cell Mitosis

[Inspector Jihad]

From what I understand, mature brain cells become arrested in the G0 stage of mitosis and do not multiply and thats why we have a limited number of brain cells, unlike the other cells which continue to multiply.

Would it be possible to somehow alter brain cells in people who have a 'shortage' for lack of a better word, so that we can have a controller multiplication of mature brain cells? Or is that totally impossible and I'm totally looking at this the wrong way?

 

[Gibsons]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
From what I understand, mature brain cells become arrested in the G0 stage of mitosis and do not multiply and thats why we have a limited number of brain cells, unlike the other cells which continue to multiply.

Would it be possible to somehow alter brain cells in people who have a 'shortage' for lack of a better word, so that we can have a controller multiplication of mature brain cells? Or is that totally impossible and I'm totally looking at this the wrong way?

Gnereally speaking, differentiation and growth (cell division) are sort of opposing processes. That is, highly differentiated cells tend not to divide. Neurons are very highly differentiated.

However, it's possible to make neurons grow (though not easily) even with today's technology, but not really in a controlled way. Basically you force them to express oncogenes or treat a large enough population of them with enough mutagens, and they'll grow if you try long and hard enough. However, they'll probably de-differentiate (quit being neurons) before/during the intitial growth, and then grow in a markedly unregulated fashion. This property would likely lead to a lethal malignancy (cancer) if this occurs in a person and not a lab dish.

There is some hope that something like this can be done, but I suspect it'll be something involving getting stem cells of some flavor to grow and differentiate into neurons, rather than forcing neurons to divide.

 

[Smilin]

Brain cancer FTW!

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: Gibsons

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
From what I understand, mature brain cells become arrested in the G0 stage of mitosis and do not multiply and thats why we have a limited number of brain cells, unlike the other cells which continue to multiply.

Would it be possible to somehow alter brain cells in people who have a 'shortage' for lack of a better word, so that we can have a controller multiplication of mature brain cells? Or is that totally impossible and I'm totally looking at this the wrong way?

Gnereally speaking, differentiation and growth (cell division) are sort of opposing processes. That is, highly differentiated cells tend not to divide. Neurons are very highly differentiated.

However, it's possible to make neurons grow (though not easily) even with today's technology, but not really in a controlled way. Basically you force them to express oncogenes or treat a large enough population of them with enough mutagens, and they'll grow if you try long and hard enough. However, they'll probably de-differentiate (quit being neurons) before/during the intitial growth, and then grow in a markedly unregulated fashion. This property would likely lead to a lethal malignancy (cancer) if this occurs in a person and not a lab dish.

There is some hope that something like this can be done, but I suspect it'll be something involving getting stem cells of some flavor to grow and differentiate into neurons, rather than forcing neurons to divide.

oh ok, i see...that was a pretty comprehensive answer...thanks a lot. I'm sure someone has looked into it already and its prolly not feasible

 

[sunnpat]

Neurons are the type of cell we want to multiply in the brain to prevent such diseases as Alzhemier's and Parkinsons.
Stem cells found in parts of the brain have been found to multiply and differentiate into neurons in certain parts of the brain, notable those involved in the memory centers of the brain (the hippocampus). In fact they have shown that neurons are formed and migrate to the oflactory bulb, which is involved in the identifying smells.
Certain factors have been shown to increase the rate of neurogenesis in these areas, such as the hormone estrogen ( it is thought that this is one of the reasons women do not suffer from parkinsons and storkes as much/badly), hence such factors would be a possible research avenue for such disaeses.

Sunny

 

[bwanaaa]

the chinese are way ahead of us in stem cell research. (because they do not have the same moral qualms as we do about about throwing aborted female fetuses into the blender). spinal cord regeneration with injected stem cells is already being done. i dont know of any cerebral/cerebellar successes though. However, as sunnpat alluded to, injection of cells into the substantia nigra for dopamine replacement has been done with mixed results. I am more amazed at neuroplasticity...Electrodes implanted into the occipital cortex from an externally mounted camera have allowed people to see. Reading the accounts of these individuals is amazing...Initially they only perceive patterns of lights that eventually sort themselves out into images.

 

[nomagic]

During development, neurons differentiate and divide. Then they will also travel to designated region according to the specific concentration gradient of chemical inside the brain. The brain doesnt just grow. It is a very complex process involving precisely planned steps.

It is incorrect to think simply stimulate brain cell growth will make people less metally challenged. Generally speaking, the brain contains nuclei and regions connected by pathways. To make people smarter, our goal would be to optimize the the brain as a whole. Simply adding more brain cells will disrupt the "design" of the brain and cause new problems.

How do we optimize an already developed brain? We dont know yet. Believe it or not. We currently know very little about the brain. (Heck, we dont even know what some of the support cells do.)

Neuroscience is at its infancy. Much like what chemistry was a few hundred years ago.

 

[bwanaaa]

nootropic drugs and stem cell experiments have already demonstrated that mice can be made smarter-learning new tasks several times faster than 'normal' mice and remembering larger collections of trained behaviors.

 

[homercles337]

Originally posted by: nomagic
During development, neurons differentiate and divide. Then they will also travel to designated region according to the specific concentration gradient of chemical inside the brain. The brain doesnt just grow. It is a very complex process involving precisely planned steps.

Actually, this doesnt happen during development alone. Adults (rats, macaque, cats, etc) "grow" new brain cells (undifferentiated) all the time. Just as in development, they migrate to specific areas then differentiate (cortical, hippocampal, olfactory, etc). This process happens throughout your entire life! The "you have a limited number of 'brain cells'" idea has been debunked in numerous species and labs. But much like that "you only use 10% of your brain" crap will take a while to fade away.