{"id":675180,"date":"2025-06-14T23:15:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T20:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/cerebral-cortex-networks-rapidly-reorganize-to-compensate-for-lost-neurons\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T23:15:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T20:15:18","slug":"cerebral-cortex-networks-rapidly-reorganize-to-compensate-for-lost-neurons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/cerebral-cortex-networks-rapidly-reorganize-to-compensate-for-lost-neurons\/","title":{"rendered":"Cerebral cortex networks rapidly reorganize to compensate for lost neurons"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Credit: UM\/RG Rumpel
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How the brain largely maintains its function when neurons are lost\u2014this is what researchers at the University Medical Center Mainz, the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) and Hebrew University (Jerusalem) have deciphered. They show that neuronal networks in the cerebral cortex reorganize within a short period of time, with other nerve cells taking over the tasks of the lost neurons.<\/p>\n

These findings could form the basis for future research into natural aging processes and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. The study is published<\/a> in the journal Nature Neuroscience<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Nerve cells (neurons) are the most important building blocks of the brain. They form the basis for all mental and physical functions such as thinking, feeling, movement, and perception. In the course of life, nerve cells in the brain can be lost for various reasons: They die off due to age-related processes, are damaged by toxins such as alcohol, or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s lead to a more rapid progressive loss of neurons.<\/p>\n

While most body organs regularly replace old or damaged cells with new ones in order to maintain their organ function, new neurons only form in certain regions of the brain. In the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for complex thought processes and perception, the ability to form new neurons is very limited in adulthood.<\/p>\n

“Nevertheless, clinical studies have shown that cortical brain function is often surprisingly resistant to the loss of neurons that occurs in the course of aging or neurodegenerative diseases,” explains Simon Rumpel, head of the Systems Neurophysiology research group at the Institute of Physiology at the University Medical Center Mainz.<\/p>\n