Researchers at two Belgian universities have discovered that mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells, dictate the speed of brain development.
The discovery was made by a team from KU Leuven’s Centre for Brain & Disease Research and the Université Libre de Bruxelles’ Interdisciplinary Institute for Research in Human and Molecular Biology.
Their findings, detailed in a study published in ‘Science’ magazine, shed light on human evolution and could have significant implications for neurological disorders.
The human brain continues to grow for several years before full maturity, more slowly than the brains of other species such as mice, which develop within weeks. The precise reasoning behind this slow, vital growth had hitherto remained unknown.
The scientists discovered that mitochondria, responsible for energy production in cells, set the pace of this neuronal maturation.
“Neurons have a sort of hourglass to measure time, and that hourglass is provided by the mitochondria,” researcher Pierre Vanderhaeghen explains.
He suggests this is critical in solving one of biology’s greatest mysteries – what differentiates the human brain from others and why is our brain particularly vulnerable to certain diseases?
The team realised this breakthrough using a novel genetic tool designed to measure neuron development time. The researchers believe this tool will be valuable in speeding up fundamental and pharmaceutical research into human neurological or psychiatric diseases, previously hampered by the slow speed of human neuronal development.
This research could have far-reaching implications for brain conditions linked to mitochondria dysfunction, leading to early cerebral symptoms.
