In Nature Communications, it was unveiled that an injury to one part of the brain modifies nerve cells across the whole brain.
The study, conducted by the University of California, Irvine, addressed the issue of traumatic brain injury (TBI).
From the findings: “Here we use cellular resolution whole-brain imaging to generate brain-wide maps of the input to inhibitory neurons in a mouse model of traumatic brain injury.”
“We find that somatostatin interneurons are converted into hyperconnected hubs in multiple brain regions, with rich local network connections but diminished long-range inputs, even at areas not directly damaged. The loss of long-range input does not correlate with cell loss in distant brain regions.”
All in all, the results unveiled a possible strategy in enhancing inhibition after a TBI and facilitating spatial reorganization of the direct inputs to inhibitory neurons.
