Summary Nutrition and the Brain

A snapshot of the summary - Nutrition and the Brain

• L2 basic principles brain function

• There are different types of neurons, which one? And which one do you see the most in the brain

  • Unipolar
    
  • Bipolar
  • Pseudounipolar 
  • Multipolar 

  
  
  Multipolar
• Which Glial Cell types are in the CNS? And which are in the PNS?

  CNS
  

  • Astrocyte
  • Oligodendrocyte
  • Microglia
  • Ependymal cell

  
  PNS
  

  • Satellite cell
  • Schwann cell
• How does the neurotransmitter release works?

  • Synapse
    
  • Action potential
  • Membrane depolarisation
  • Ca2+ influx
  • Syntaxin --> docking of the synaptic vesicle

  
  

  • Synaptic vesicle contains neurotransmitter (e.g. dopamine, serotonin)
• What do you need for instant synthesis

  Endocannabinoids 
  
• What is synaptic plasticity  (neuronal communication)

  It is a base of learning processes
  
  

  • After long term potentiation (LTP), synaptic communication is strengthened
  • Base of learning and memory processes
  • Challenge and stimulate your brain, else synapses degenerate
• How can you enter into the brain (blood-brain-barrier)

  • Molecules diffuse across membranes (e.g., oxygen and other gases, lipid-permeable compounds)
    
  • Transporter molecules (e.g., glucose transporters)
  • High electrical charge slows down diffusion across membranes
  • Highly restricted: neuroactiva compounds (e.g., glutamate, adrenalin, dopamine)
• Lipids; diffuse across membranes. Within the brain they are involved in:

  • Neuronal membranes 
    
  • Myelin 
  • Endocannabinoids 
• How do astrocytes work ???

  • If there are low glucose levels: Astrocytes produce lactate (glycogen storage)
    
  • Lactate: Metabolized by neurons and oligodendrocytes
  • If there are high glucose levels: Glycogen storage restored

  
  Lactate levels of the brain: Hypoxia, Neurodegenerative diseases
• What happens in Alzheimer's disease? (Pathologies)

  • Reduction in cerebral glucose metabolism (early)
    
  • Disturbed glucose metabolism is associated with AD progression (reduces GLUT1 expression in BBB and astrocytes)
• What happens in Parkinson's disease? (Pathologies)

  • Widespread cortical hypo-metabolism
    
  • Glucose hypermetabolisme in the external pallidum