WASHINGTON: Scientists have created a detailed map of gene activity within a crucial part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, gaining insight into normal development and major brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia.
In nine separate studies, the researchers examined changes in individual types of brain cells that occur over time and made progress toward deciphering molecular processes that underlie some of the most devastating brain disorders, a step toward possible new treatments.
The prefrontal cortex is the front part of the brain’s outer layer, located behind the forehead. It also is sensitive to age-related decline, and its functions are affected in many psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.
Gene activity was examined in the nuclei of more than 6.3 million brain cells neurons, immune cells, cells associated with blood vessels and support cells that help maintain brain function from 1,494 deceased donors, ranging in age from infancy to 108 years old, and with various genetic ancestries.
The donors included people with no diagnosed brain disorder as well as people diagnosed with conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
‘Together, these studies help explain where disease-related changes occur and which biological processes deserve closer investigation,’ said Dr. Panos Roussos, director of the Center for Disease Neurogenomics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and a leader of the research published on Wednesday in Nature.-Reuters