One of the main goals of modern science and medicine is to keep people healthy, especially when they're little.
A new discovery shows that brain inflammation in infants can cause lots of troubles later in life.
Let's find out how it was discovered.
Studying the consequences
Scientists have discovered that severe inflammation in early childhood can affect brain development and may be linked to neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and schizophrenia.
They used a method called single-cell genomics to study the brains of children who had inflammation due to infections or asthma, finding that it hindered the full maturation of specific neurons in the cerebellum.
The cerebellum is responsible for motor control and higher cognitive functions.
Abnormalities in the cerebellum in newborns have previously been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders.
The study examined post-mortem brain tissues from children aged one to five who died from various causes, with a focus on two specific types of cerebellar neurons, the Golgi and Purkinje neurons, which showed disruptions in their maturation due to inflammation.
Why it's important
Understanding the effects of inflammation on brain development at a cellular level is crucial for finding treatments for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, as well as other brain-related conditions like dementia and Parkinson's disease.
The study sheds light on how gene expression changes during inflammation may lead to later cellular dysfunction, such as reduced synaptic connectivity or altered energy metabolism, contributing to these disorders.
