EMBO Rep: Study reveals how brain elasticity is made.

Oct 10, 2020 //--- The critical stage of neuron development exists at a limited stage in life, during which the plasticity of neural connections is maximized and brain development begins to slowly adapt to the environment.
researchers at the Higher Normal School in Pisa and the Jena Lebnitz Institute for Aging (FLI) found the role of microRNAs (miR-29) in these learning-dependent plastic stages.
study found that premature increases in miR-29 concentrations in young mice prevented cortose plasticity, and that blocking of miR-29 in mesozoic animals induced classical plasticity in younger stages.
above results show that miR-29 is a developmental plastic regulator of age dependence.
(Photo Source: www.pixabay.com) "At a sensitive stage of development, neural networks in the visual cortical layer adapt to visual stimuli to the greatest extent possible.
this allows us to identify important regulators for brain plasticity," said Professor Alessandro Cellerino of SNS, who published the study in the journal EMBO Reports.
, head of the team at the Jena FLI and Professor Tommaso Pizzorusso of the University of Florence and the NRC Institute of Neuroscience in Pisa, is the study's author. Professor Cellerino explains:
The visual cortical circuit is part of the visual system, enables vision, exhibits strong plasticity in early life, and later stabilizes through molecular braking, limiting over-adaptation of the link after critical periods.
, however, the underlying mechanisms for coordinating the expression of these factors are still unknown during the transition from development to adulthood.
to determine the factors that regulate the postpartum development of the visual cortical cortical layer, the team analyzed the miRNA/RNA data sets in the development of the visual cortical cortical layer in mice.
compared them at different points in time: P10, the 10th day after birth and the 10th day immediately before the onset of eye opening and sensitivity, and P28 when the mouse cortique reached functional maturity.
results show that microRNA family miR-29 is an age-dependent regulator for the plasticity of the development of the visual cortical layer.
Cellerino, of FLI/SNS, explains: "MiR-29a has increased by 30 times, which is the highest expression of miRNA during sensitive periods.
in fish, mice and humans, the miR-29 family is very conservatively regulated.
addition, more than half of the targets for miR-29 regulation are lowered with age, including key regulators for brain plasticity.
suggests that miR-29a is an important regulator for downstream development.
further analysis showed that premature increases in miR-29a concentrations in young mice prevented dominant plasticity and led to the early emergence of neural peripheral networks (PPNs).
PPN is a specialized structure in the central nervous system responsible for synactal stabilization in the adult brain.
in both the developing and adult brains, which play a crucial role in disrupting plasticity and maintaining existing connections between nerve cells.
In addition, the researchers were able to demonstrate that blocking miR-29a in adult animals reverses the developmental decline of miR-29a targets and induces an eye plasticity that has typical plastic physiological and molecular characteristics at sensitive stages.
, studies have shown that miR-29a is an important regulator for plastic fractures that promote the stability of age-related visual cortical connections.
miR29a is a remodeling agent for mature neural networks, opening up new and promising therapeutic prospects for miR-29a and other miR-29 family members to promote brain plasticity during aging and brain injury regeneration.
(bioon.com) Source: Studying brain plasticity in old age Source: Debora Napoli et al. MiR-29 coordinates age-dependent plasticity brakes in the adult visual cortex, EMBO reports (2020). DOI: 10.15252/embr.202050431.