[ExI] Smarter mice

[Tara Maya]

Oh god, it’s the Secret of Nimh! 


Tara Maya
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> On Dec 9, 2014, at 1:10 AM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> The altered mice still have mouse neurons - the "thinking" cells that
> make up around half of all their brain cells. But practically all the
> glial cells in their brains, the ones that support the neurons, are
> human.
> <http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26639-the-smart-mouse-with-the-halfhuman-brain.html>
> 
> Quote:
> Goldman's team extracted immature glial cells from donated human
> fetuses. They injected them into mouse pups where they developed into
> astrocytes, a star-shaped type of glial cell.
> 
> Within a year, the mouse glial cells had been completely usurped by
> the human interlopers. The 300,000 human cells each mouse received
> multiplied until they numbered 12 million, displacing the native
> cells.
> 
> Astrocytes are vital for conscious thought, because they help to
> strengthen the connections between neurons, called synapses. Their
> tendrils (see image) are involved in coordinating the transmission of
> electrical signals across synapses.
> 
> Human astrocytes are 10 to 20 times the size of mouse astrocytes and
> carry 100 times as many tendrils. This means they can coordinate all
> the neural signals in an area far more adeptly than mouse astrocytes
> can. "It's like ramping up the power of your computer," says Goldman.
> 
> A battery of standard tests for mouse memory and cognition showed that
> the mice with human astrocytes are much smarter than their mousy
> peers.
> -------------------
> 
> 
> Two thoughts.........
> 
> Would replacing glial cells in Alzheimers patients improve their condition?
> 
> For normal people, would injecting high quality glial cells, say, from
> a genius level person, improve their intelligence?
> 
> 
> BillK
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