Neuron: Uncover the molecular mechanisms by which small glial cells shape neural circuits in the brain.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020 // -- In a recent study published in the international journal Neuron, scientists from cold spring harbor laboratories and other institutions suggest that immune cells may play an unexpected role in fine-tuning the brain's neural circuits, called small glial cells, which not only protect the brain from infection and inflammation, but also help shape developing brain circuits.
Photo Source: In Lucas Headle's study, researchers delved into the link between biology and the outside world, and researcher Lucas Cheadle says we are very interested in studying how neural circuits respond to sensory experiences; It's done, but it does require strong feedback from the environment to promote brain maturation, and when animals interact with their surroundings, some neuron connections are eliminated and others strengthened, a process that can last up to a decade after birth.
the right neurons are connected to each other in the right way during development, and the body wants to be able to control how much and how strong they are before they connect, which is why sensory experience is important. In the
article, researchers closely monitored the connections between neurons or synapses in the brain's vision processing circuit, and said young mice needed visual input at the right time to develop vision-related brain pathfects, but if the mice lacked visual input at a critical time, Its neural circuits produce too many synapses, which the researchers found relied on small glial cells, which, with proper visual stimulation, send signals to nearby neurons to trim synapses.
This effect on neural connectivity represents a key role for small glial cells in a healthy brain and may help explain why these cells are directly related to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, the researchers believe, a major breakthrough in this study that could help scientists understand sensory experiences. How and small glial cells coordinate to facilitate the pruning of synapses, which are crucial to the maturation of the brain in early life, will continue to look further into tracking the molecular signals that cause synhap to break down and how small glial cells respond to environmental cues.
the ability of small glial cells to increase gene expression to respond to visual experiences has fascinated researchers, who later said they would continue to delve into the field of research to make more unexpected discoveries.
() Original source: Lucas Cheadle, Samuel A. Rivera, Jasper S. Phelps, et al. Sensory Experience Engages Microglia to Shape Neural Connectivity through a Non-Phagocytic Mechanism, Neuron (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.08.002.