Study shows how social isolation disrupts myelin production

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/uab-nfo110912.php

Public release date: 11-Nov-2012
Contact: Ellen Goldbaum
University at Buffalo

New form of brain plasticity: Study shows how social isolation disrupts myelin production
Research may prompt new investigations into white matter’s role in psychiatric disorders as well as connections between mood and myelin diseases, like MS

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Animals that are socially isolated for prolonged periods make less myelin in the region of the brain responsible for complex emotional and cognitive behavior, researchers at the University at Buffalo and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine report in Nature Neuroscience online.

The research sheds new light on brain plasticity, the brain's ability to adapt to environmental changes. It reveals that neurons aren't the only brain structures that undergo changes in response to an individual's environment and experience, according to one of the paper's lead authors, Karen Dietz, PhD, research scientist in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

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