Neuroscience

Franz Hefti (Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles): "The discovery of the neurotrophin growth factor family, which includes nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), and neurotrophine-4/5 (NT-4/5), and the realization that BDNF and NT3 and their receptors are expressed at high levels in the brain, led us to hypothesize that these factors play a role in plasticity of the adult brain. Four years ago, we entered this field pooling our expertise in neurotrophic factors with that in plasticity and learning of the labs of Richard Thompson and Michel Baudry at USC. As did other groups, we found that the expression of BDNF and NT-3 are regulated in vivo by intense neuronal activity. Pharmacologically induced seizures in rats and seizure activity associated with epilepsy in humans result in structural changes within certain forebrain structures. Thus, our findings suggested that pathological and, perhaps, physiological neuronal ...