Role of Zinc in the Brain

Zinc plays a key role in regulating communication between neurons and could affect how memories form and how we learn, say scientists at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC).

Xiao-an Zhang, a chemistry professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), and colleagues at MIT and Duke University designed a chemical called ZX1 that would bind with zinc rapidly after it was released from the vesicles but before it could complete its journey across the synapse.

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Using the chemical, they were able to observe how neurons behaved when deprived of zinc.

The researchers studied neurons in a brain region called the hippocampus, which is associated with learning and memory formation.

They found that removing zinc interfered with a process called long-term potentiation.

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Long-term potentiation strengthens the connection between two neurons, and seems to be important for memory and learning.

The new research appears in the current issue of Neuron.

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The Central nervous system consists of the brain, the spinal cord, and the body’s nerve network. This complex system is based on one kind of cell the neurons.

Source-ANI

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