Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Increasing Neuroplasticity Through Gene Knockout


            
            If you ever noticed how much more difficult it is to learn a new language as you age, you can realize how less adaptive the brain become as you get older. Adults have a more difficult time learning new concepts than children do because children's brains are more flexible. The Nogo Receptor 1 gene has been shown to lead to the maturation of the brain, decreasing its neuroplasticity. With this gene identified, scientists wanted to see if the adult brain in mice can change back to the more plastic brain function of adolescent mice through gene knockout. When researchers blocked this gene in aging mice, they noticed that these mutated mice continued to have juvenile brain function even into adulthood. Even more interesting is that adult mice that had this gene blocked had their rigid adult brain revert back to a more malleable juvenile brain.

            The inhibition of the Nogo Receptor 1 gene can have some potential human applications including overcoming traumatic experiences, recovering from brain damage, and having better learning abilities. People who suffer from brain injuries like stroke most go through rehabilitation to redevelop certain movement skills. Brain-injured mice that had this gene blocked were able to learn motor tasks faster than wild type mice. This indicates that stroke patients could potentially have quicker rehab times if the gene is blocked in humans.

Another interesting discovery was that Nogo receptors lead to slower memory loss. Mice that had this gene blocked had a faster ability to forget stressful memories. This discovery could potentially help people with post-traumatic stress disorder because it could help sufferers get past traumatic events. The only question that I had was how would the inhibition of the Nogo Receptor 1 gene affect personalities in humans?

Posted by Poya Jafari (2)

11 comments:

  1. Do you think that if it was tested on humans, it would 1) work and 2) just learning become more juvenile, or even their actions more juvenile? If it changed their brain to revert back to child-like stages, could this be potentially bad?

    Cynthia Bui (1)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think inhibiting Nogo receptors would not necessarily lead to juvenile behavior but rather would allow neurons to develop and make connections as quickly as neurons in juveniles. There are a lot of unknown consequences that could result from blocking these receptors in humans. Maybe one day scientists can find a way to inhibit these receptors to increase neuroplasticity without having any major consequences, but as of now I think there's too many risks that could develop if these receptors were blocked in humans.

      Delete
  2. It sounds somewhat dangerous to inhibit the Nogo Receptor 1 gene in humans. If the effects are anything like the effects on mice, a human's brain can also revert back to a malleable juvenile brain. If that's the case, I would definitely think there would be an effect on personalities.

    Kimberly Ty (3)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would be worried that other things would be affected as well, however I do not think it would make one act or think like a juvenile just because the brain has become malleable like a juvenile brain. You would not lose all your memories and intelligence/knowledge that you have learned throughout life; would you?
    I think more research would definitely be required, but testing on humans looks to be inevitable in something that could be so valuable to the human race.
    Tonya Sulham (3)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This type of gene inhibition does sound fantastic, but maybe too good to be true as well. Are there any noted disadvantages of this process? It seems likely that reconfiguring some of the wiring of the brain could inhibit other neurological functions.

    Ashley Sterpka (1)

    ReplyDelete
  5. "brain-injured mice that had this gene blocked were able to learn motor tasks faster than wild type mice"

    Do you mean knockout mice that lacked the gene? If an antagonist to this nogo-receptor could be made maybe it could be used as a drug to increase plasticity and learning in non-knockout mice or humans.

    Joseph Starrett (3)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, adult mice that lacked the gene were able to recover from injuries faster than adult mice that had normal expression of the gene. Drug development based off this preliminary research definitely could have potential to benefit humans in a unique way.

      Posted by Poya Jafari (2)

      Delete
  6. It seems as though inhibiting the Nogo receptor 1 gene would be extremely dangerous for humans. I think more research is required because I do believe that by inhibiting this gene and reverting our brains to juvenile brains would inadvertently change our personalities as well. Although the advantages sounds fantastic, its also important to take into account the disadvantages of this process.

    Gabrielle Wertheim (3)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I wonder if inhibiting the Nogo receptor 1 gene has any disadvantages or possible unknown side affects, such as further trauma or memory/personality loss and changes. I would definitely want a reputable doctor who has performed this multiple times before considering the surgery. It seems risky.

    Lindsey Dugas (1)

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a very interesting discovery. So, inhibition of Nogo Receptor 1 increases the ability to learn skills but also increases the rate of memory loss in mice. I don't think this would work for treating PTSD because it doesn't seem like you would be able to target specific memories. I agree with you that there would have to be a trade-off in loss in personality. For stroke and brain trauma victims, who need to relearn many skills, a loss of memories and thus personality might be a trade-off that they are willing to make.

    Kaitlin Jones (3)

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is awesome, I hope to hear more about their research on these genes and what impact they have on the ability to retain information. This could help a lot of people with learning disabilities as well as the PTSD patients.

    ReplyDelete