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Thestudy,whichappearedintheDecember2009issueofBehavioralNeuroscience
journal,focusedonthehippocampus,aregionofthebrainthatplaysacriticalrolein
memory,learningandspatialnavigation.Fromtheirpreviousstudies,thescientistsknew
thatwhentherewasdamagetothesubiculum,anadjoiningregion,thereisasubstantial
deteriorationinthehippocampus,whichinturnleadstoproblemswithlearning.

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Brainbooster
Nervecellgraftshelpbraindamagedratsfullyregaintheirabilitytolearn,reportsT.V.Jayan

Repairingthebrainsabilitytolearnandremembermay
beeasierthanpreviouslythought.Inafeatthatmayhelp
designtherapiestotacklememorylossassociatedwith
braindisorders,neuroscientistsinBangalorehave
shownthatitispossibletoregainthelostabilitytolearn
bysimplygraftingnervecellsinthebrain.
ThescientistsfromtwoBangalorebasedinstitutions
theNationalInstituteofMentalHealthand
Neurosciences(Nimhans)andtheNationalCentrefor
BiologicalSciences(NCBS)foundthatthebrain
damagedratstheyusedforthestudymadea
remarkablerecoveryintheirlearningandmemory
abilitiesintwomonths.

Forthepresentstudy,thescientistsfirstinjectedachemicalcapableofdestroyingbrain
cellsintothesubiculumofhealthyadultrats.This,theyfound,reducedthecellsinthe
hippocampusbynearlyhalf,leadingtoseriouslearningandmemorydifficulties.
Subsequently,thescientiststransplantednervecellsharvestedfromtransgenicnew
bornmiceusingsophisticatedmicroinjectiontechniquesandculturedinthelabinone
setoftheaffectedrats.
Twomonthsfollowingtransplantation,therewasa
completerecoveryoflearningskillsandmemoryofthe
transplantrats,saysBinduKutty,aNimhansscientist,
whoistheprincipalauthorofthestudy.Incomparison,
thenontransplantratsexhibitednoimprovement.
Afterstudyingbehaviour,thescientistsexaminedwhat
happenedinthebrain.Whentheyanalysedthebrainsof
therats,theyfoundthatthetransplantedcellshadsettled
mainlyinasubareaofthehippocampuscalledthe
dentategyrus.There,thetransplantsappearedto
promotethesecretionoftwotypesofproteinsthatboost
thegrowthandsurvivalofthecellsthatgiveriseto
neurons.Forinstance,thescientistsmeasuredathree
foldincreaseinthepresenceofoneoftheproteins,brainderivedneurotrophicfactor
(BDNF).
BDNFandtheotherproteinfibroblastgrowthfactor,collectivelyknownasnervegrowth
factors,playacriticalroleinneuralrepairaswellasthereorganisationofneural
circuits.Thesespecialisedchemicalsprovideanidealmicroenvironmentformaking
newneurons,saysKutty.
Wedidntseeanysubstantialincreaseinthenumberofnervecellsfollowingthe
transplant.Butwhatwasnoticeablewastheefficiencywithwhichthesurvivingbrain
cellswereconductingbusiness,saysMitradasMPanicker,aNCBSscientistandco
authorofthestudy.Moreimportantly,thestudypointstotheresilientnatureofthebrain
anditsabilitytogetaroundthemanyproblemsthatitnormallyencounters.
Thescientistsobservedthattheexistingnervecellsweremakingmoreandmore
connectionsandbranchingoutrigorouslyasiftocompensateforthelostnervecells.
Thescientistssaidfurtherstudiesareneeded,especially
tounderstandtheunderlyingrepairmechanismandthe
apparentroleplayedbythegrowthfactorsinpromoting
brainhealth.Althoughthecurrentstudyshowsthatbrain
celltransplantationcanrestorefunction,morestudies
alongtheselinesusingappropriateanimalmodelsare
requiredtofinddefiniteanswersaboutthesafetyandefficacyofsuchapproaches,says
Kutty.
Oncetheyfigurethatout,themethodcouldbeusedtotreatmanyneurodegenerative
disorders,includingdementia.Alzheimersdiseaseisanotherbraindisorderwhere

progressivememorylossisrampant.

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