What's in a brain? Neurons, chemical messengers, electric signals-and a lot of empty space. The space between cells takes up a fifth of the volume inside our brains. And although all our thoughts and mental functions traffic through this vital region, scientists are just beginning to unlock its secrets.
Neurobiologists Charles Nicholson of New York University and Eva Sykova of the Institute of Experimental Medicine in Prague have developed ways to probe the unseen intercellular space in the brain. By injecting tracers and tracking their diffusion thought the living brains of rats and other animals, they have discovered that about 20 percent is extra cellular space, filled with cerebrospinal fluid-the same liquid that surrounds and cushions than brain and spinal cord. Nicholson and his colleagues also found that diffusion is slow because the many nooks and crannies between cells impede the flow of molecules as they enter microscopic blind alleys and became trapped. Through this pattern of diffusion, Chemical released by nerve cells build up to higher concentration between neurons. Sykova and her colleagues are studying the way extra cellular space changes with disease and aging. Conditions producing a lack of oxygen, such as stroke, sharing the extra cellular space. As the space constricts, the diffusion of substances between cells slows, and toxic substances are concentrated, impeding recovery. Aging has the same effect, and the shrinkage may link to learning. When Sykova compared elderly rats that were fast learners in a maze test with their slower-learning peers, she found that the quick learners had lost much less extra cellular space. Happy Learning, Yovan P. Putra www.primastudy.com <http://www.primastudy.com/> Expand your genius through Total-Mind Learning Series coaching program <http://www.primastudy.com/> ....
