Yang Jiawen, Sui Sen-Fang, Liu Zheng
Cryo-electron Microscopy Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong, China.
Department of Biology, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong, China.
Biophys Rep. 2022 Jun 30;8(3):170-181. doi: 10.52601/bpr.2022.220013.
The brain is one of the most complex organs in nature. In this organ, multiple neurons, neuron clusters, or multiple brain regions are interconnected to form a complex structural network where various brain functions are completed through interaction. In recent years, multiple tools and techniques have been developed to analyze the composition of different cell types in the brain and to construct the brain atlas on macroscopic, mesoscopic, and microscopic levels. Meanwhile, researchers have found that many neuropsychiatric diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Huntington's disease, are closely related to abnormal changes of brain structure, which means the investigation in brain structure not only provides a new idea for understanding the pathological mechanism of the diseases, but also provides imaging markers for early diagnosis and potential treatment. This article pays attention to the research of human brain structure, reviews the research progress of human brain structure and the structural mechanism of neurodegenerative diseases, and discusses the problems and prospects in the field.
大脑是自然界中最复杂的器官之一。在这个器官中,多个神经元、神经元簇或多个脑区相互连接,形成一个复杂的结构网络,各种脑功能通过相互作用得以完成。近年来,人们开发了多种工具和技术来分析大脑中不同细胞类型的组成,并在宏观、介观和微观层面构建脑图谱。与此同时,研究人员发现,许多神经精神疾病,如帕金森病、阿尔茨海默病和亨廷顿病,都与脑结构的异常变化密切相关,这意味着对脑结构的研究不仅为理解这些疾病的病理机制提供了新思路,也为早期诊断和潜在治疗提供了影像学标志物。本文关注人类脑结构的研究,综述了人类脑结构的研究进展以及神经退行性疾病的结构机制,并探讨了该领域存在的问题和前景。