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Atomic Bombs Help Solve Brain Mystery

Posted by Soulskill on from the microscopes-are-for-squares dept.

sciencehabit writes "The mushroom clouds produced by more than 500 nuclear bomb tests during the Cold War may have had a silver lining, after all. More than 50 years later, scientists have found a way to use radioactive carbon isotopes released into the atmosphere by nuclear testing to settle a long-standing debate in neuroscience: Does the adult human brain produce new neurons? After working to hone their technique for more than a decade, the researchers report that a small region of the human brain involved in memory makes new neurons throughout our lives — a continuous process of self-renewal that may aid learning."

8 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Informative

    I just read this in a neuroscience textbook published last year.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:Interesting... by AlecC · · Score: 5, Informative

      According to TFA, the research which originally showed this could not be repeated since the chemical given to trace growth was found to be poisonous. Therefore it was based on a probably correct but unrepeatable experiment, something people in the hard sciences do not like. This new experiment has provided confirmation of the earlier result by a different method.

      --
      Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
  2. Neurons regenerate you say? by lxs · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll drink to that!

  3. This isn't a mystery by hedwards · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's been known since at least the '60s that brain cells regenerate, the question was whether that applied to the grey matter or just the glial cells.

    And AFAIK, it's been accepted for years that neurogenesis applies to grey cells. Arguing that it doesn't apply would require one to have an alternate explanation for why and how memory and learning occur after the brain supposedly doesn't create new neurons. Or how precisely all that development happens in the brain after birth.

    1. Re:This isn't a mystery by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Informative

      Arguing that it doesn't apply would require one to have an alternate explanation for why and how memory and learning occur after the brain supposedly doesn't create new neurons.

      I was under the impression that the standard explanation was that learning and memory were based on connections, not generation of new cells.

      Your impression is correct. You are born with (almost) all the neurons you will ever have. The density of synapses in your brain increases until you are ~18-20, then decreases somewhat and stabilizes. But the strength of the signal transmitted at any given synapse is subject to change at any time in your life, and is thought to be the mechanism for learning.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    2. Re:This isn't a mystery by werewolf1031 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was under the impression that the standard explanation was that learning and memory were based on connections, not generation of new cells.

      That would strongly imply a zero sum game, which would be like, for example, learning a new programming language but in the process forgetting how to talk to wom...

      Wait, you might be onto something.

    3. Re:This isn't a mystery by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Informative

      BTW, the mention of learning in the article & summary isn't pure spin. The region they found that produces new cells is the hippocampus, which plays some kind of role in memory consolidation.

      You'll have to ask an expert whether this is going to make us rethink anything about the mechanism for learning.

      (Hope this isn't a dupe... I posted it earlier, but must have forgotten to click the Submit button.)

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  4. Re:Well, one problem down. by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not to be confused with T Rex, in which the only winning play is not to move.