On 16 May 2014 11:02, Russell Standish <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Fri, May 16, 2014 at 12:10:20PM +1200, LizR wrote: > > > > I don't think we replace our brain cells, but even if we do, isn't the > fact > > > that they are replaced and the replacements are functionally similar > > > important to who we are? > > > > > > We do, apparently. > > > http://www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2012/feb/23/brain-new-cells-adult-neurogenesis > > > > (I know I could do with some new ones ... or do I mean "neurones" ?) > > > > I think that is more about brain repair, than material replacement in > cells, and only involves a few percent of neurons. > > It turns out the carbon atoms in the DNA of neural cells is remarkable > long lived, as chronicled via the radiation spike due to atmospheric > nuclear weapons testing in 50s & 60s. I don't have a cite on hand, > but the result is that your neuronal DNA is on average about two years > younger than your own age. For most other cell types, the average age > is around 7 years, or something like that. > > The conclusion is that the body does not materially recycle neurons, > as presumably to do so loses important learnt information. The other > interesting conclusion is that our brains are dramatically rewired > when we're about 2. We're not the same people as when we're infants. > > Cheers I think this might be the paper you are thinking of: http://scholar.google.com.au/scholar_url?hl=en&q=http://yadda.icm.edu.pl/yadda/element/bwmeta1.element.elsevier-b6ed2137-3083-37b7-9901-46f88551da73/c/main.pdf&sa=X&scisig=AAGBfm12RhfzMR6yIzFstjT4BrLeu8PfyQ&oi=scholarr&ei=B2V1U7eNHI_ZkQXQ0YEI&ved=0CCwQgAMoADAA (Going to the above URL gives the entire paper rather than an abstract) But while the atoms in the neuronal DNA are relatively stable over time, the rest of the matter in a neuron turns over continuously. -- Stathis Papaioannou -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
