Researchers report in the journal Cell that ancient viruses may be to thank for myelin—and, by extension, our large, complex brains.
Evolution
Feb 15, 2024
5
80
An animal's brain consists of two different types of cell: neurons, which process and transmit information, and glial cells, which support the neurons in a variety of ways. In 1871, the French anatomist Louis-Antoine Ranvier ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 8, 2023
0
594
The zebrafish should be known to many aquarium enthusiasts, mainly because of its striking pigmentation. However, the characteristic black-blue stripes, to which the animal owes its name, only form over time. Its eyelash-sized ...
Biochemistry
Sep 20, 2022
15
83
In two newly published papers, a scientific team at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine reports on the discovery and implementation of a new, more efficient method for generating an important brain stem cell ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 1, 2018
0
230
Studying the fundamental aspects of biology can sometimes lead to unexpected findings that directly relate to human disease. In one of the latest examples of scientific serendipity, researchers from the Salk Institute found ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 14, 2018
0
8
Drugs available to treat multiple sclerosis, a leading cause of neurological disability affecting roughly 2.3 million people worldwide, alter the body's immune system to reduce disease symptoms and disability.
Biochemistry
May 29, 2018
1
241
Sandia National Laboratories is developing specialized computer modeling and simulation methods to better understand how blasts on a battlefield could lead to traumatic brain injury and injuries to vital organs, like the ...
General Physics
Jan 23, 2018
0
29
Researchers have developed a fast and practical molecular-scale imaging technique that could let scientists view never-before-seen dynamics of biological processes involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 13, 2017
0
474
Among the greatest unanswered questions in all of evolutionary biology is what were the molecular forces that gave rise to the unique cognitive abilities of the human brain? Which, among the constellation of neurons, expanded ...
Evolution
Jan 31, 2017
0
7
(Phys.org)—If a metallurgist wanted to determine how a blade was made they might cut a small cross section, mount, polish, and etch it, and then look at it under a microscope. They could probably tell right away whether ...
Myelin is a dielectric (electrically insulating) material that forms a layer, the myelin sheath, usually around only the axon of a neuron. It is essential for the proper functioning of the nervous system. Myelin is an outgrowth of a type of glial cell. The production of the myelin sheath is called myelination. In humans, the production of myelin begins in the fourteenth week of fetal development, although little myelin exists in the brain at the time of birth. During infancy, myelination occurs quickly and continues through the adolescent stages of life.
Schwann cells supply the myelin for peripheral neurons, whereas oligodendrocytes, specifically of the interfascicular type, myelinate the axons of the central nervous system. Myelin is considered a defining characteristic of the (gnathostome) vertebrates, but myelin-like sheaths have also arisen by parallel evolution in some invertebrates, although they are quite different from vertebrate myelin at the molecular level. Myelin was discovered in 1854 by Rudolf Virchow.
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