Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday March 10 2020, @10:52AM   Printer-friendly
from the where's-waldo's-brain? dept.

One step closer to understanding the human brain:

An international team of scientists led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has launched a comprehensive overview of all proteins expressed in the brain, published today in the journal Science. The open-access database offers medical researchers an unprecedented resource to deepen their understanding of neurobiology and develop new, more effective therapies and diagnostics targeting psychiatric and neurological diseases.

[...] "As expected the blueprint for the brain is shared among mammals, but the new map also reveals interesting differences between human, pig and mouse brains," says Mathias Uhlén, Professor at the Department of Protein Science at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Visiting professor at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet and Director of the Human Protein Atlas effort.

The cerebellum emerged in the study as the most distinct region of the brain. Many proteins with elevated expression levels in this region were found, including several associated to psychiatric disorders supporting a role of the cerebellum in the processing of emotions.

[...] When comparing the neurotransmitter systems, responsible for the communication between neurons, some clear differences between the species could be identified.

"Several molecular components of neurotransmitter systems, especially receptors that respond to released neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, show a different pattern in humans and mice," says Dr. Jan Mulder, group leader of the Human Protein Atlas brain profiling group and researcher at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet. "This means that caution should be taken when selecting animals as models for human mental and neurological disorders."

Evelina Sjöstedt, et. al. An atlas of the protein-coding genes in the human, pig, and mouse brain. Science, 2020; 367 (6482): eaay5947 DOI: 10.1126/science.aay5947


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by takyon on Tuesday March 10 2020, @06:54PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday March 10 2020, @06:54PM (#969213) Journal

    Depends on what is meant by "understanding", but I doubt it. We have exponentially increasing capabilities, and the brain's complexity comes from lots of simple units working together. Maybe it will be easier to build our silicon replacements than it would be to "develop new, more effective[, and highly invasive] therapies and diagnostics".

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   0  
       Disagree=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Disagree' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2