Scientists identify a molecule that links both sides of the brain

A QBI-led team has identified a molecule that plays a key role in establishing the major nerve connections between each side of the adult brain.

QBI neural migration laboratory head, Associate Professor Helen Cooper, said her group’s research provided new clues in the development of the corpus callosum, the main connecting nerve tract that shuttles information between the left and right hemispheres of the adult brain.

“Our study is the first to identify a growth molecule that guides young nerves away from the corpus callosum and towards their targets in the opposite hemisphere,” she said.

QBI neuroscientists worked with Associate Professor Steven Stacker and his team at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne to identify a molecule that helps control development of the corpus callosum. The findings are expected to have long-term implications for the development of treatments for several forms of mental impairment and epilepsy.

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