#Neurons are the cells of the #brain: the average human brain contains, on average, 86 billion of them, and their untold billions of interconnections are largely what we credit for the development of human consciousness. Unfortunately, there is a problem. The neural model of the brain, holding that neurons and their interconnections are responsible for all of our moods and behaviours, has yet to explain how mood disorders arise and are sustained. Treatments based on the neural model, like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (#SSRIs) as a treatment for #depression, are not neuron-specific and have only limited effectiveness in mild and very serious depression. They also have serious side-effects. #Glia were long considered to be the support structure of the brain, outnumbering neurons by approximately 10 to 1. In the heady rush to map and categorize neural networks, glia were frequently regulated to the position of scaffolding in our conceptualization of the brain, the chassis to the brains engine. Research has shown that our theory of glia is in need of revision. There are many subtypes of glia that fulfill vital functions in the brain, including some that may facilitate communication in previously-unknown ways in the brain. As Dr. Fikrey Birey, post-doc at Stanford University, explains below, new studies are slowly demonstrating a strong correlation between the newly-discovered NG2-subtype of glia and mood disorders. Find additional research on the subject here: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23597041
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 23:44:48 +0000
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