Image via Wikipedia The A-to-T SNP rs7794745 in the CNTNAP2 gene was found to be associated with increased risk of autism (see Arking et al., 2008). Specifically, the TT genotype, found in about 15% of individuals, increases these folks’ risk by about 1.2-1.7-fold. Sure enough, when I checked my 23andMe profile, I found that I’m [...]
Posts Tagged ‘synaptogenesis’
A look inside brains that carry (my) genetic risk for autism
Posted in CNTNAP2, Cerebellum, Frontal cortex, Frontal pole, Fusiform gyrus, Rostral fronto-occipital fasciculus, Thalamus, White matter, tagged 23andMe, Add new tag, autism, Autism spectrum, Brain, Development, Frontal lobe, Functional magnetic resonance imaging, Genetic testing, Genetics, Grey matter, Health, Mental disorder, Mental health, Neural development, Neurodevelopmental, synaptogenesis, White matter on March 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Epigenetics and cognitive development – quick sketch overview
Posted in BDNF, MECP2, tagged Art, autism, Development, Epigenetics, Gene expression, schizophrenia, synaptogenesis, Stress, Anxiety, meme-art, Gene, Cognition, Rett Syndrome, MECP2, Transcription, cognitive development on December 16, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Some quick sketches that might help put the fast-growing epigenetics and cognitive development literature into context. Visit the University of Utah’s Epigenetics training site for more background! The genome is just the A,G,T,C bases that encode proteins and other mRNA molecules. The “epi”genome are various modification to the DNA – such as methylation (at C [...]
Genes for Down syndrome isolated in mouse model
Posted in DYRK1A, KCNJ6, tagged Chromosome, Development, Down syndrome, Genetics, Hippocampus, Karyotype, Mental disorder, Mental health, mouse-model, Neurological Disorders, Prenatal, synaptogenesis, Trisomy 21 on December 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The human brain is renown for its complexity. Indeed, while we often marvel at the mature brain in its splendid form and capability, its even more staggering to consider how to build such a powerful computing machine. Admittedly, mother nature has been working on this for a long time – perhaps since the first neuronal [...]
Genetic causes and non-genetic consequences of schizophrenia play out within 2mm of neocortex
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Archives of General Psychiatry, Brain, cerebral cortex, Development, Frontal lobe, Genetics, Mental disorder, Mental health, neocortex, Neuron, schizophrenia, synapse, synaptogenesis on November 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image by Biking Nikon PDX via Flickr One of the difficult aspects of understanding mental illness, is separating the real causes of the illness from what might be secondary or tertiary consequences of having the illness. If you think about a car whose engine is not running normally, there may be many observable things going [...]
Astrocytes hold dendrites in a warm thrombospondin embrace
Posted in CACNA2D1, THBS1, THBS2, tagged CACNA2D1, Chemical synapse, Dendrite, Dendritic spine, Development, gabapentin, Neuron, neurontin, synaptogenesis, Voltage-dependent calcium channel on November 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
If you compare the left panel to the right panel, you’ll see a dendrite (grey) with dendritic spines (green) on the left-side and then, on the right-side, these spines enveloped by the membrane of an astrocyte (white). These images were obtained from synapse-web.org who use a method known as 3D reconstruction of serial section electron [...]
Gabapentin receptor makes nurture stick and your synapses grow
Posted in CACNA2D1, tagged Brain, Development, gabapentin, Genetics, Human genome, neurontin, synaptogenesis, Tempest on November 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image by shehal via Flickr “A devil, a born devil, on whose nature Nurture can never stick; on whom my pains, Humanely taken, all, all lost, quite lost And as with age his body uglier grows, So his mind cankers.” So says the wizard Prospero about the wretched Caliban in Shakespeare’s The Tempest (Act IV, [...]
Synaptogenesis tattoos
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Art, meme-art, synaptogenesis on October 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I express a multiple-handed Hindu goddess in my brain, therefore I am
Posted in Frontal cortex, Hippocampus, Kalirin, Rho GTPase, tagged Alzheimer's disease, Biology, Dendritic spine, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Gene expression, Joseph E. LeDoux, Memory, Prozac Nation, Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are, synaptogenesis on September 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image via Wikipedia Joseph LeDoux‘s book, “Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are” opens with his recounting of an incidental glance at a t-shirt, “I don’t know, so maybe I’m not” (a play on Descartes’ “cogito ergo sum“) that prompted him to explore how our brain encodes memory and how that leads to [...]
Dendritic branching a good thing ? sez6 sez it ain’t so
Posted in SEZ6, tagged Development, Mental disorder, Mouse, Mutation, Neuron, Seizure, SEZ6, synaptogenesis on January 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image via Wikipedia If you like gardening, the doldrums of winter can be dreary indeed. Although I’d never admit to it, my neighbors might swear to having seen me outside strangely (pathetically) counting the number of branches on my icicle-laden roses and rhododendrons. In any case, I do admit to spending way too much time [...]