The creation of "mini brains" could help treat autism and schizophrenia

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have successfully developed and developed autonomic muscle-controlling micro-brains with structures and processes similar to those in the developing brain of week 12-16. the pregnancy. An advanced study can have important implications for the treatment of various diseases, including schizophrenia, autism and depression.

The scientists prepared the microbes in the laboratory from human stem cells, sufficiently sensitized to send "nerve signals" to connect the spinal cord and muscle tissue in the mouse, in order to bend the muscles. The mini-brain also contains millions of neurons, whose capabilities are similar to those of cockroaches.

"We would like to see them as small brains about to move," said Madeleine Lancaster of the University of Cambridge, who led the experiment at the Molecular Biology Laboratory of the Medical Research Council and the University of Cambridge. 39, published in Nature: Neuroscience. Despite the rapid maturation of small brains, they are still very small and do not have all the "ammunition" and the organization of brain areas necessary for better perception.

In the experiment, the co-author, Stefano Giandomenico, contributed to the development of a method to cultivate a slice of organic brain material on a membrane located in the air-liquid interface, thus allowing the access to nutrient-rich media, oxygen in the air, microbial in the petri dish for a long time, so that it can mature more

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