Researchers looking to help people suffering from addiction, depression, and pain are studying how certain brain neurons operate to see if they can be controlled.
Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Washington University in St. Louis, along with several other universities, successfully used a protein called parapinopsin to turn off brain circuits. This protein is found in lamprey – an ancient lineage of jawless fish similar to eel. Researchers said the ability to inhibit neurons could eventually lead to turning off mood disorders and unwanted behaviors like depression and addiction.
“We found a particular protein that comes from lamprey that has been around for hundreds of millions of years. We took the gene from that protein and found we can control the way neurons talk to each other, which is how chemicals are transmitted into the brain,” said lead corresponding author Michael Bruchas, professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and co-director of the Imaging and Neural Circuits core of the Center for Neurobiology of Addiction, Pain and Emotion.
