Normally, the brain is a balanced environment, where equal measures of inhibition and excitement keep electrical impulses in check. Some health concerns, however, such as schizophrenia and those who suffer from seizures, are caused by the brain firing off electrical impulses at random, and in excess, and new research has now been conducted into why this might occur.
Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics at the Medical College of Georgia have been looking into the various jobs carried out by inhibitory neurons in the brain. The research team has found that there is a protein called erbin, which plays an important role in brain development and is also crucial to the ‘excitement’ that is released inside the brain.
This protein is known to interact with a type of brain cell receptor, although how it interacts is still unknown. The presence of this protein is very important, as without it, excitement signals can fire off for no particular reason. Developing the effects of erbin could be the vital antidote to the excitory cells in the brain, which make up about 80 percent of all brain cells.
Scientists were excited to discover the effects of erbin when testing it on mice, and seeing the effects that uncontrolled brain activity can have. Without erbin, the mice were more likely to be hyperactive and also to suffer from problems such as impaired memory and learning abilities.
These developments may form the start of some exciting research into treatments for conditions such as schizophrenia where the communication path between neurons is over activated.
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