New research published today by the University of Southampton shows new insight in how our brain develops, that can pave the way for treating neurological disorders.
For the first time, a team of international scientists led by the University’s Professor of Neuroimmunology, Diego Gomez-Nicola, have studied the development of the main immune cell population residing in the human brain, called microglia, on human tissue.
Microglial cells are vital in brain development and function, although most of the knowledge about them comes from studies in mice.
For this research, post-mortem human brain samples were sourced across several tissue banks to create the largest ever study on microglial development on human life, from embryonic development to advanced ageing.
The spatiotemporal dynamics of microglia across the human lifespan which has been published in Development Cell online, was made possible thanks to funding from the Leverhulme Trust.
Co-author, Professor Gomez-Nicola said: “We lacked the all important human data vital in exploring how the development of microglia affects how our brain works.
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