Is regeneration in the brain harmful?

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spuriousmonkey

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We all might have heard that neuronal stem cells and brain regeneration are a good thing.

The question is however if this is not just an optimistic assumption.

Is their a reason why our brains have only a limited regenerative capacity?

The entire process of neurogenesis seems to be aimed at creating good connections between neurons and other neurons, or target areas. This is done mainly by a temporary overproduction of neurons and a subsequent selection process. The mechanisms that lie behind the selection aim for strong and proper connections.

What happens if there would be regeneration all the time? One serious danger would be the increase in noise, by less optimal, or even wrong connections. Apparently brains do not like this.
 
Hi Spurious:
Great topic. I think that they don't regenerate in large part because of the difficulty in how to accomplish it. Consider an association neuron that has dendritic and axonal connections with and to 10,000-100,000 other neurons. How does it complete some sort of mitotic process and still maintain those connections? Also, the processes off of the cell body, the fibers, may be several centimeters long, and they may weave and wind themselves through that part of the brain and into other parts also. How to regenerate that fiber, whether association, projection, or commissural? Also they have those glial cells, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes etc. It seems that the physical connections to those would somehow have to get loosened up in order to accomplish any sort of regeneration. I think that that's the trade off; have neurons with lots of connections and labrythine processes, but then you can't repace them.
 
I think that on top of what "chuck u farley" stated it would be a bad idea for the brain to have high regenerative capabilities because by constantly replacing the neuronal conections you would likely introduce large amounts of error. If you think of the complexity of the neural connections in the brain, and how many dendritic processes there are, and how many pathways, there would be a high chance of making an error if you were to rebuild these pathways. Making a mistake in any of these pathways could have huge implications on the person's mind and memory. Also since connections between different areas of the brain, especially in the areas associated with memory, are constantly being formed, it would be very hard if the brain was constantly trying to make and re-make these connections. It would probably be nearly impossible to keep up with!

Also if any particular pathway was being broken down to be regenerated, it would not be able to be in use during this process, which could have huge implications, as certain areas of your brain wouldn't be functioning at any given time.
 
What a dillemma......
The amount of brain cells naturally degrades very rapidly, yet trying to increase the regeneration rate is dangerous..... Makes me wonder if this is often what makes paralysis feared to death....
What if this is applied by causing the brain to 'somehow' create a 'second layer' on it, which contain all matters required for regeneration ( think of it like a layer of brain contain 2 sub-layers: one is the functioning one and the other is the regenerator). Everytime a cell is estimated to die soon, a copy of it (exact copy) is made, and as soon as the cell dies, it will be replaced in no time. Well, okay, even though this idea might be good for brain, it might be not for other nerve cells.....
 
Originally posted by curioucity
What if this is applied by causing the brain to 'somehow' create a 'second layer' on it, which contain all matters required for regeneration ( think of it like a layer of brain contain 2 sub-layers: one is the functioning one and the other is the regenerator). Everytime a cell is estimated to die soon, a copy of it (exact copy) is made, and as soon as the cell dies, it will be replaced in no time.
Click to expand...

Interesting idea. Perhaps if just the cell body needs to be regenerated, this could happen somewhat readily. But, I think that the nasty stuff, lipofucsin etc., builds up in the processes, the fibers.
But, regeneration of just the cell bodies by having a layer of cells (neuroblasts?) that can do that is intriguing. Perhaps each nucleus in the CNS could have associated with it such cells. But, our heads would have to be larger to accommodate all of this extra tissue.. Would we all have big heads, and look like that Jack-In-The-Box guy?
 
I doubt it's regeneration that's really potentially harmful, so much as the rate at which it happens. If it were too fast, I'd think there would be random or misdirected connections.
 
There's some regeneration, but it's slow and limited to a few areas. I agree that you can take it to mean that it's probably bad.

I don't think this applies to stem cell therapy, as it aims to replace (and only in part) lost neurons. The implants done have really only shown small improvements at best, but the implanted cells do seem to form connections with existing neurons, which is hopeful.
 
Originally posted by skyederman
There's some regeneration, but it's slow and limited to a few areas. I agree that you can take it to mean that it's probably bad.

I don't think this applies to stem cell therapy, as it aims to replace (and only in part) lost neurons. The implants done have really only shown small improvements at best, but the implanted cells do seem to form connections with existing neurons, which is hopeful.
Click to expand...

Yes, but sofar there haven't been that many functional recoveries, even if there were new connections.
 
I've always been told and learned that brain cells never regenerate. As we get older, more and more brain cells die.
 
Can anyone direct me towards evidence of brain cell regeneration past the adult stage. I'm really not trying to be a smart ass or anything like that, but this is all new to me, i.e., if it happens or if it is a possibilty? Stem cells that regenerate are taken from human embryos, not adults, although I've heard about some new research in taking stem cells from adult saliva - not sure.
 
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