Isaura Font Monclús

24/11/09

Building Brains: The Molecular Logic of Neural Circuits

To understand the animal behaviour we have to study the different neurone cell circuits.
We have to observe the different parts of the components of the brains to analyze the
citocognitive function. The complexity of the neurones composition is what controls the
behaviour, but this is not enough, we also need understand the proprieties of the
individual nerve cells.

The neurone is a highly specialize cell type, has many processes as well as the cell
body. The nerve cell has a lot of processes that help to receive and pass the
neurotransmissor. The receptive is the dendrite that receives the information. The axon
is the processes that cross over one neurone to the next one by means of connections,
called synapses. In the brain there are like 1015 synapses connections. The electrical
impulses move the different molecules across synapses to pass the information. The
impulse information comes down from the axon that activates small packets in the nerve
terminal which to realize the content into the gap at this synapse and activate the
channels to transfers the molecules to the target neurone, some of these molecules
activate receptors on target neurones, they open yet the channels to send the information
from the one neurone to the next along these connections.

How neurones in different regions of the brain become different? The transition from
the embryonic system to the adult system brain is one of the most enormous changes.
Transcription factors define brain regions activating some genes that difference the
brain regions. Some proteins bind to some specific DNA sequences in regions called
promoters that activate programs of gene expression. There is different expression of
these transcription factors. The brain gets its stripes by signals that provided the early
nervous system from the other cell types in the developing embryo. The factors act at
different concentrations; they establish a gradient, for example the gene wnt expresses
in the first part of the nerve system low concentration, and in the back part high
concentration, that produce the expression of different transcription factors, which will
be different type of cells, that will difference the brain regions.

How cells really interpreted the great signals that are expose? Different cells are expose
at different concentration of the signalling molecules, these active the receptors at
different potency, which active primary transcription factors at different levels, for this
reason different cells have different gene expression. The target gene is translated in
secondary transcription factors that generate a cascade of signals, which mediate the
processes of cell difference, producing different cell identities.

Let us to focused in the spinal cord differentiation. One of its is control of the
movement, called motoneurones, because they starts in the spinal cord and end in the
muscle, but there are another type of neurones, interneurons. To control the neurone
difference in the spinal cord there are another gradient of the signally molecules that
produce cell type differentiation, the principle molecule is Shh. The correct gradient of
Shh produces a correct number of different cell types. If you have the wrong
concentration of signal factors you will have consequences because these are involved
in the right brain development.

The motoneurones have abilities to activate muscles to flex or extend. They activate or
deactivate some muscles depend on the activity that we are going to do.
The neurones to do contact between them extend filopodis. To guide the neurones in
the transmition of the information there are some forces, attraction and repulsion. For
example, one neurone contact with one molecule for attraction because the neurone has
the right receptor, but after the contact, the terminal of the neurone is repulsed by
collapse. This is a simple model for control of the movement of the muscles, but if we
wondering about the central system the connections between different neurones is too
much complex. It’s important that one neuron connects to the right target neuron and
don’t connect to the wrong target one. The positive connections depend on the attraction
forces and the negative connections depend on the repulsion forces.

In the synapses we can find initial elimination or maturation, this reveals that there are
some molecules that control the productions of neural contact. Two proteins implicated
are neurexin and neuroligin, which contact between them to create a synapse. It’s
important to maintain several connections in developing brain. A disorder in these two
genes are involved in the production of autism.