Monicccaabout 3 years ago

Scientists Make Discovery That Accidentally Solves A 125-Year-Old Neuroscience Mystery

Science is rarely eureka moments and instead hard work for slender strands of revelation. However, a team of scientists from the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have done what many scientists envy: they’ve made a serendipitous discovery of what they claim “solves” a century-old mystery around a web-like structure in the brain. This puzzling matrix of molecules, known as perineuronal nets, wrap around certain neurons and dendrites. They have been implicated in plasticity, disease, and aging, but their precise function remains unclear. Now, the team led by Harald Sontheimer have discovered that the nets – at least in one capacity – are involved in modulating electrical impulses in the brain. Even more compelling is what happened when the scientists dissolved these nets: brain seizures. Read full article...