If you’re on skis, you want to avoid avalanches. But when the right kind happen in your brain, you shouldn’t worry.
If you’re on skis, you want to avoid avalanches. But when the right kind happen in your brain, you shouldn’t worry. You won’t feel them. They’re probably to your benefit.
Scientists at Rice University’s Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP) have simulated the mechanics of a complex network that helps give neurons their ever-changing structures. They found the complex, Arp2/3, may be largely responsible for the “avalanches” observed in the cells’ cytoskeletal networks.
The finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides another clue to how the brain forms and retains memories. It follows a study last year that detailed the interactions that allow neurons to accept the electrical signals that remodel their structures. An earlier study suggested actin filaments that control the shape of neurons may be the key to the formation and storage of long-term memories.
Read more at Rice University
Image: These snapshots of actin filaments, motors and linkers show how a branched network changes during an avalanche as tension in the system, indicated by color, is released over 10 seconds. The blue squares at top left highlight concentrated high-tension regions that become low-tension areas (top right) after the event. Researchers suspect avalanches in the actomyosin networks in neuronal cells are one possible mechanism by which the brain preserves memories. (Credit: Memory/Plasticity Group at CTBP/Rice University)
