Old Brains, New Tricks
Until Fred Gage came along, brain scientists accepted as a matter of faith that the neurons, or brain cells, you were born with were all the brain cells you would ever have. Then, two years ago, this 49-year-old neurobiologist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California showed in a groundbreaking experiment that neurons are constantly being born, particularly in the learning and memory centers.
Gage's discovery forced scientists to rethink some of their most basic ideas about how the brain works.
Even more exciting was the fact that the source of these new cells was neural-stem cells, master cells with the ability to morph into any type of brain cell depending on the chemical signals they receive as they grow. Today neurobiologists no longer argue about whether or not the brain can grow new cells. Instead they're trying to figure out how this cell growth can be harnessed to treat everything from epilepsy, to stress, to depression.
Gage now believes that changes in behavior-like exercising more, can affect neurogenesis and alter the brain's wiring. "The idea is that we have control over who we are, even as adults," he says. We're used to thinking that our minds control our bodies. Could it be the other way around? Could what we do change the structure of our brains?
It's a radical idea - one that turns on its head accepted ideas of nature vs. nurture. And since Gage has some experience toppling long-standing biological truths, it's probably worth considering.
He stands at the plate with his heart pounding fast.
