New Neural Insight: Researchers Unveil Mysteries of Formation

Researchers have determined that the nervous system forms a bit differently than once thought. A new study shows that precursor cells are "recruited" to help form parts of the peripheral nervous system.

The study, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science, details how researchers from Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Sweden closely examined the formation of mouse embryos, paying special attention to the formation of the nervous system.

According to the study, the researchers focused on the peripheral nervous system (PNS) - the system which stems from the central nervous system.

The PNS connects the body's limbs and organs to the brain and spinal cord, allowing for communication and reaction throughout the body. It is also made up of smaller systems, such as the automatic nervous system - which is responsible for automatic regulation and reaction of the body without the iterance of commands from the conscious brain. Stemming from this, and found throughout every organ in the body, is the parasympathetic nervous system - a system made up of nerves responsible for monitoring health and conserving energy .

According to a KI release, modern neurologists theorize that parasympathetic nerve cells first arise from early progenitor cells, traveling short distances when the embryo is small so that they can establish themselves in and around the appropriate organs.

However, this does not explain how organs that don't develop until the time when an embryo is larger can contain well-established in parasympathetic nerves.

After close analysis of the mice embryos, researchers found that some precursor cells, called Schwann cell precursors, became parasympathetic neurons rather than standard organ cells. Research lead Igor Adameyko says this was an unexpected discovery.

"Our study focuses on a new principal of developmental biology, a targeted recruitment of cells that are probably also used in the reconstruction of tissue," he said in a statement.

However, he added, "despite the elegance, simplicity and beauty of this principal, it is still unclear how the number of parasympathetic neurons is controlled and why only some of the cells transported by nerves are transformed into that which becomes an important part of the nervous system."

The study was published in Science on June 12.