Secretariat, Alumni Association, IDAC
Date Wednesday, 29 January 2020, 13:30-14:30
Room 7th Floor, Seminar Room 1, IDAC Center for Basic Aging Research
Title Increasing resilience with a balanced neuron‐astrocyte interaction.
Speaker Mia Lindskog
Affiliation Karolinska Institutet
Organizer Hozumi Motohashi, Dept. of Gene Expression Regulation・ext 8550
Abstract The ability of the brain to adapt to new environmental challenges is a key factor to resilience and thus to stay mentally healthy during aging. Brain plasticity is thus one of the most critical aspects of brain function and there is a plethora of mechanisms, from molecular to brain area level, that conveys functional plasticity. Decreased plasticity is seen in many different brain disorders and associated with cognitive decline whereas increasing plasticity, can be a way to increase resilience to brain disorders. Astrocytes, the most common non-neuronal cells in the brain, are well known to be critical in keeping the brain homeostasis, but it is becoming increasing clear that astrocytes also regulate neuronal signalling and plasticity. We are focusing on how the astrocyte and neuron interaction mediate brain plasticity. In particular, we are focusing in the interaction between astrocytes and glutamatergic synapses through uptake of glutamate and release of gliotransmittors.