According to reports, Japanese scientists have devised a technique for connecting lab-grown brain-mimicking tissue,, like how circuits in our brain work.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo released a study in Nature Communications journal that looked into making a seemingly impossible idea a reality.
The scientists discovered a new approach to establishing physiological connections between lab-grown neuronal organoids. These organoids are experimental model tissues created by growing human stem cells into 3D-developed brain-like structures.
The physiological connections were formed using axonal bundles, analogous to how regions are connected in the living human brain.
“Animal studies are limited by differences between species in brain structure and function, and brain cells grown in the lab tend to lack the characteristic connections of cells in the human brain,” said University of Tokyo’s Dr Yoshiho Ikeuchi and colleagues.
“What’s more, we are increasingly realizing that these interregional connections, and the circuits that they create, are important for many of the brain functions that define us as humans,” they added.
Alterations in brain networks have been associated with various neurological and psychiatric conditions
The researchers used optogenetics to stimulate the axonal bundles. These changes were observed to have an effect on the organoids for some time, as their activity was altered.
“These findings suggest that axonal bundle connections are important for developing complex networks,” said Dr Ikeuchi.
He added that the complex brain networks command various actions of the body, including speaking, hearing, and emotions.
“Given that alterations in brain networks have been associated with various neurological and psychiatric conditions, a better understanding of brain networks is important,” the researcher said.
The study on lab-grown human brain circuits is expected to broaden our understanding in the long term and contribute to prior research on the subject.
“Previous studies have tried to create brain circuits under laboratory conditions, which have been advancing the field,” the researchers said.
