Use Your Brain...Or Lose It!

Filed in archive Alzheimer's Disease , Parkinson's Disease , Studies on February 14, 2008

Though today is the official 'heart day' (Valentine's), let me pick on the brain -which after all is a higher part of the body, at least higher, position-wise, than the heart. ;-)




In neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, the nerve cells die. In the past, as to why nerve cells die, too many clues have been discovered already.

Now, another important clue on the matter has been uncovered by Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) neuroscientists, thereby adding more evidence that that old 'use it or lose it' model of brain function may actually be true.

According to QBI's Dr Elizabeth Coulson:

"A baby's brain generates roughly double the number of nerve cells it needs to function; with those cells that receive both chemical and electrical stimuli surviving, and the remaining cells dying. It appears that if a cell is not appropriately stimulated by other cells, it self-destructs.

This self-destruct process is also known to be an important factor in stroke, Alzheimer's and motor neuron diseases, leading to the loss of essential nerve cells from the adult brain.

We know that a lack of both chemical and electrical stimuli causes the cells to self-destruct. But we believe that nerve cells will survive if appropriate electrical stimuli are produced to block the self-destruct process that we have identified."

So, let us use our brain always: even after retirement or post-menopausal. Keep that brain sharp and not rusty!
The above findings have been published in the Journal of Neuroscience wherein Dr Coulson (with colleagues) has identified a crucial step in the cell-death process.

Find more details from The University of Queensland.