Nervous Profiles

As the years roll by our bodies accumulate scars from injuries we incur. It was long held that our brain is particularly vulnerable to damage as it can't create new nerve cells. Research later revealed this not to be true, with new nerve cells discovered in a part of the brain called the hippocampus. Dysfunction in the ability to make new cells here is implicated in Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and depression. Debates continue over when these new cells integrate into existing nerve networks. To resolve this more information is needed on how these cells mature over time. In the mouse hippocampus, imaging proteins Thy1 (green) and doublecortin (cyan) allowed researchers to identify mature versus adult-born nerve cells, respectively. Focusing on adult-born cells, they tracked cell shape and nucleus size. Together these characteristics accurately depict the extent of cell maturity, helping to uncover how these cells contribute to brain function.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image from work by Tijana Radic, Omar Al-Qaisi and Tassilo Jungenitz, and colleagues
• Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, NeuroScience Center, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS One, August 2015