With the help of modern technology and more recent techniques, researchers have been able to show electric impulses in our brain travel at high speed. Researchers from the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience (NIN) have stated that myelin, which is known to be a sheath around Neurons are responsible for one of the most common neurological disorders we have which is called, sclerosis.
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The specifics of the study on electric impulses in our brain
With newer convictions, researchers estimate over a hundred billion neurons existing in our brains that share a certain type of communication with one another by the exchange of electrical impulses that are said to be traveling at a heightened speed of up to 360 kilometers per hour.
With the comments of Professor Maarten Kole, better explanation is given with regards to myelin as it is a concept which is still quite complicated for some to understand. "We know this requires the presence of myelin sheaths, consisting of multiple layers of fatty material wrapped around the nerve cell extensions..." continuing later on with "However, this research opens new avenues to understand the hardware of the brain in terms of how they compute with a rapid signal transfer."
Myelin creates a coaxial cable which then produces a number of waves that harbor electrical potential which travel in a slightly more complicated manner than what was earlier envisioned. With the given findings, better research can then be deployed to understand the better demyelinating disease, which includes one of the most common neurological disorder, which we call sclerosis.
How myelin is perceived to perform
According to the explanation found further in the statement of Professor Maarten Kole, Myelin can be seen as by many as an insulator which is tasked to initiate the "jumping" of certain electrical potentials which go hand in hand with the cables we could easily interpret as the "highways of our brain", but of course, the mechanisms of this jumping were not yet understood.
With the help of Max-Planck Institute (MPI) of Experimental Medicine from Gottingen Germany, electron microscopy was deployed to be able to measure the slight distance between the nerve cell membranes together with the insulating sheath which was then given the result of 12 nanometers which is about 10,000 times thinner than a strand of hair.
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The goal of the study is to further the understanding of myelin
Experiments and research are deployed with a certain target and the target of this one is to be able to visibly track the electricity which makes further understanding of the properties of myelin sheaths possible. Demyelinating disease which also includes multiple sclerosis or MS is seen to be something this research could really help cure. In order to for doctors to be able to counter or prevent MS, it is first their task to understand the functions of myelin sheaths and electric pulses through the brain. According to Professor Maarten Kole, "Our work now may provide reliable predictions of how impulses travel along the highways without myelin. This finding contributes to the understanding of the cellular changes occurring in MS."
