Discoveries

Young minds are easily molded. Each new experience rewires a child’s brain circuitry, adding and removing synaptic connections between neurons. These wiring patterns become more stable with age, but biology has left some wiggle room to ensure that adult brains can still adapt and refine their circuitry as needed. 

Nicola Allen, PhD, and her team have now discovered a molecule that is critical for stabilizing brain circuits in adulthood: a protein called CCN1 secreted by star-shaped cells called astrocytes. Mouse studies showed that CCN1 coordinates the maturation of multiple cell types to reduce the plasticity of the adult brain, but removing it had the opposite effect. The CCN1 pathway could now be a prime target for new therapeutics designed to support learning and plasticity in people with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, depression, or PTSD, or to promote neural repair after injury or stroke. 

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