Tuesday, February 09, 2010

All in the Mind - Stem cells and brain tales

Neurogenesis is a hot topic in neuroscience research, and it has been for a few years now. Yet there are still people, in our field, who know nothing about it (including a teacher I had last year). This is a good introduction for those who may want to know more about this emerging element of brain science.

Stem cells and brain tales

Acclaimed neuroscientist Fred Gage is a serial trailblazer. Decades of dogma were overturned when his team confirmed the adult brain continues to make new brain cells. Incredibly, now scientists can even turn skin cells into brain cells with a chemical push! But, if their potential to treat brain diseases or damage is to be realised, transplanted cells need to be able to call your brain home. Stanford biologist James Weimann has a major advance.

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Transcripts are available Wednesday after broadcast. Streaming and downloadable audio on Saturdays.

Guests

Fred (Rusty) H Gage
Professor
Laboratory of Genetics
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
San Diego
http://www.salk.edu/faculty/gage.html

Dr James Weimann
Senior Researcher
Department of Neurology
Stanford Medical School
Stanford University
http://neurology.stanford.edu/

Further Information

All in the Mind blog with Natasha Mitchell - for your comments and discussion
Or you can now add comments direct on the page here (above) - we always love to hear your thoughts and responses. Note all online message boards are moderated according to the ABC Online Conditions of Use.

The 13th Kenneth Myer Lecture, Florey Neurosciences Institutes
Professor Fred Gage was the guest lecturer in December 2009, on "Brain regeneration: How the brain can regrow and repair".

Publications

Title: Murine Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Pyramidal Neurons Integrate into the Cerebral Cortex and Appropriately Project Axons to Subcortical Targets
Author: Makoto Ideguchi,Theo D. Palmer,Lawrence D. Recht,and James M. Weimann
Publisher: The Journal of Neuroscience January 20, 2010, 30(3):894-904
URL: http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/abstract/30/3/894

Title: Computational Influence of Adult Neurogenesis on Memory Encoding
Author: James B. Aimone, Janet Wiles and Fred H. Gage
Publisher: Neuron, Volume 61, Issue 2, 187-202, 29 January 2009
URL: http://www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273(08)01019-2

Title: A Functional Role for Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Spatial Pattern Separation
Author: C. D. Clelland, M Choi, C Romberg, G D Clemenson Jr, A Fragniere, P. Tyers, S Jessberger, L M Saksida, R A Barker,F H Gage,T J Bussey
Publisher: Science, July 2009
URL: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/325/5937/210

Title: Signaling in Adult Neurogenesis
Author: Hoonkyo Suh, Wei Deng, and Fred H. Gage
Publisher: Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vol. 25: 253-275 ( November 2009)
URL: http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.cellbio.042308.113256?cookieSet=1&journalCode=cellbio

Presenter

Natasha Mitchell


1 comment:

brain training pro said...

Hello, William.

Many thanks for this post. It is truly amazing how many professionals who should know about neurogenesis and neuroplasticity know very little or nothing. The science has moved quickly, for sure, but it's been over ten years since Fred Gage proved that there is new brain cell growth in adult humans.

Martin