Breaking the brain barrier.
- Autores: Jeneen Interlandi
- Localización: Scientific American, ISSN 0036-8733, Vol. 308, Nº. 6, 2013, págs. 52-57
- Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
In this article the author discusses the perception of the blood-brain barrier as a living, mutable organ may revolutionize the treatment of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's. Topics include experiments by scientists Paul Ehrlich that led to the eventual discovery of a blood-brain barrier, which is hidden inside the brain's blood vessels, biologists' view of the blood-brain barrier as something to be revered or avoided, and a change in attitudes toward the blood-brain barrier, which scientists call the neurovascular unit. Also discussed is brain cell research by Maiken Nedergaard of the University of Rochester, New York, a diagram illustrating how the blood-brain barrier protects the brain, and the role that the neurovascular unit plays in disease.
