Benefits of Cholesterol to Brain Development

Question 1: Researchers found that Einstein's brain had a higher ratio of glial cells to neurons than other brains. What are glial cells, and why might having more glial cells be important?

The central nervous system (CNS) comprises grey matter, which contains neuron cell bodies and white matter, which contains the nerve axons. Most of the nerve axons are concentrically wrapped around by lipid-rich biological membrane, known as the myelin sheath. In the CNS, myelin is produced by oligodendrocyte. a type of glial cell. (Pfeiffer et al., 1993). These electrical insulating, multilamellar membranes significantly increase the electrical resistance, in which to prevent leakage of electrical currents from the axons, as well as decrease electrical capacitance to reduce the ability of the axons to store electrical energy (Shivane &

Glial cells make up 90 percent of the brain's cells. Glial cells are nerve cells that don't carry nerve impulses. The various glial (meaning "glue") cells perform many important functions, including: digestion of parts of dead neurons, manufacturing myelin for neurons, providing physical and nutritional support for neurons, and more. Types of glial cells include Schwann's Cells, Satellite Cells, Microglia,

Continuing on we as a class learned about the spinal cord, which is a column of nerves lining our back, as well as the central nervous system, which is the human body’s main processing unit. Chapter two focuses primarily on these two aspects of the body. The central nervous system is the brain and spinal cord, the brain, hindbrain, and midbrain are in charge of the senses. Hearing and sight for example are dealt with in the forebrain. The nervous system includes many different working pieces that control the body. Such as Dendrites; these are the hairs on the neurons. Ions have both negative and positive neurons which each has three, included with the soma in the cell body. Axon is the long tube of it, and the terminal button is the end of the tube.

High cholesterol is a dangerous disease that can lead to many life-threatening ailments, and can be lowered by eating healthy, while maintaining a balanced diet of leveled cholesterol. Cholesterol, the sleek-fat like substance that roams in the blood of a body. It is vital to life, but when there is too much intake of cholesterol, it can cause the body to malfunction and cause problems. There are two types of cholesterol HDL and LDL, which varies in the amount of protein and cholesterol it holds Too much cholesterol in a body is dangerous, and surprisingly, has no symptoms. The two main types of cholesterol are HDL and LDL, HDL helps reduce the chances of chronic heart disease, whereas LDL is the main reason for plaque build-up in artery

the brain, such as neurons, glial cells, and how its billions of neural connections make up the

While it is beneficial to acknowledge the connection between cholesterol and heart health, it is equally critical to take into account their general contexts and ponder the countless

Because of the lack of β-hexosaminidase A, the body cannot break down excess GM2 ganglioside and the fatty substance is able to build up profusely in the nerves and tissues of the brain.

Glial cells are the most numerous cells in the brain, outnumbering neurons nearly 3:1, although smaller and some lacking axonal and dendritic projections. Once thought to play a subpar role to neurons, glial cells are now recognized as responsible for much greater functions. There are many types of glial cells, including: oligodendrocytes, microglia, and astrocytes. Oligodendrocytes form the myelin sheath in the CNS, by wrapping themselves around the axons of neurons. Their PNS counterpart, Schwann cells, are also considered glial cells. This sheath insulates the axon and increases the speed of transmission, analogous to the coating on electrical wires. Microglia are considered to be “immune system-like”; removing viruses, fungi, and other wastes that are present. Astrocytes, however, are considered to be the most prominent. Their functions span throughout the brain, including, but not limited to: the synchronization of axonal transmission via G-protein-coupled receptors, blood flow regulation via the dilation of blood vessels, and the performance of reactive gliosis in conjunction with microglia. Both astrocytes and oligodendrocytes develop from neuroepithelial cells. Other types of glial cells include Radial glia, which direct immature neuron migration during development.

I have elected to pursue research in the field of neuroscience because I relish the approach of logical thinking to satisfy the curiosity of knowing things about me and the world around me. Neuroscience is a fascinating area with a limitless possibility of understanding and uncovering to resolve so many unanswered and unimagined questions. Although, in recent years, a large number of breakthroughs research have been done in the area of neuroscience, still, there is a lot more to discover and untangle in this area. Such an enormous amount of research work in this area has led open to the advancement in the diagnosis and therapeutic approaches to several neurological disorders and cancer such as glioma. Therefore, I decided

So what are neuroglia? The two major components of the central nervous system are neurons and glial cells. Since Rudolf Virchow first observed them in the 1800s, glia were thought to be support cells in the brain. Glia greatly outnumber neurons, forming approximately half the volume of an adult mammalian brain. When early neurophysiologists recorded glia using electrodes, they found only passive membrane currents, so these early researchers assumed that half of the brain was silent (Algulhon, et al., 2008). In the late 1970s, this assumption was challenged. Using florescent imaging, researchers began to observe glial intracellular calcium fluxes, which lead to release of neuroactive substances, called

There is a growing need for treatment of gangliosidoses, or the increase in lipid storage in cells. Diseases such as Tay-Sach’s, Sandhoff disease, Alzheimer’s and HIV are at the forefront of research into how these cells affect different aspects of the body. Gangliosides, the cells that store lipids, are often found in neural tissue. This is the basis for research into these diseases and possible treatment. This review examines the causes of such

Camillo Golgi came up with the idea of silver staining, which uses silver chromate solution on brain tissue. Through this staining process it showed more details about the neuron than the Nissl stain could, like how the neuron had two distinct parts. Using Golgi’s method Santiago Ramon y Cajal was able to discover that the neuron was in fact the cellular

Human brain consists of billions of cells interconnected together, with each performing its separate functions. It consists of two explicit categories of nerves: neurons and glia cells. Neuron is a single nerve cell in the entire nervous system; which is electrically excitable cell that carries information after being processed via chemical or electrical signals. One of its key characteristics is that it does not undergo cell division. In addition, it maintains a voltage gradient for all the neurons across its membranes. Glia cells, on the other hand, its functionality is to maintain homeostasis.

Although, favorable biological functions of protein aggregates have been revealed in microorganisms, the degenerative nature of human amyloids in brain remains challenging since decades. It has been shown that the cell membrane plays a crucial role in modulating the A aggregation and kinetics and redirect them to intermediate states. Studied have shown that the association of A with cell membrane modulates the oligomeric nucleus that form morphologically distinct neurotoxic A species. The discriminated concentration dependent fibrillation reveled from in vivo and in vitro studies proposed the critical role of membrane that elevates the local A concentration. Recent studies have further shown the key phospholipids such as gangliosides (GM), sphingomyelin (SM) and cholesterol as the modulators of A oligomerization. The gangliosides are abundant in neuron cells and brain cholesterol levels are seen to increase through the AD progression. Moreover, the AD associated sphingomyelin metabolism dysfunction has been studied and its prevention for the treatment is proposed. Although, the exact function of GM/SM lipids in modulating the local A deposition and aggregation remains controversial, a recent study proposed the induction and inhibitory activity of SM and GM, respectively. However, advanced attempts to design and generate membrane modulating A aggregation with mechanistic approach remains unclear. In addition,