Major discovery explains how adult brain cleans out dead brain cells, produces new ones
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 - 15:31
in Biology & Nature
(Medical Xpress) -- Adult brains generate thousands of new brain cells called neurons each day; however only a small fraction of them survive. The rest die and are consumed by scavenger cells called phagocytes. Until now, scientists have not fully understood how this process works, which phagocytes are unique in the brain, and how the removal of dead neurons influences the production of new neurons.