Lifelong cortical myelin plasticity and age-related degeneration in the live mammalian brain

Axonal myelin increases neural processing speed and efficiency. It is unknown whether patterns of myelin distribution are fixed or whether myelinating oligodendrocytes are continually generated in adulthood and maintain the capacity for structural remodeling. Using high-resolution, intravital label-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNature neuroscience Vol. 21; no. 5; pp. 683 - 695
Main Authors Hill, Robert A, Li, Alice M, Grutzendler, Jaime
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Nature Publishing Group 01.05.2018
Subjects
Age
Aging
Animals
Axonal plasticity
Axons
Brain
Cortex
Death
Degeneration
Fluorescence
Health aspects
Homeostasis
Information processing
Labeling
Localization
Mice
Microglia
Microscopy
Mouse devices
Myelin
Myelin Sheath - metabolism
Myelination
Nerve Degeneration
Nervous system
Neural plasticity
Neurodegeneration
Neuroimaging
Neurons
Neurosciences
Oligodendrocytes
Oligodendroglia
Pathogenesis
Physiological aspects
Plastic properties
Plasticity
Processing speed
Somatosensory Cortex - diagnostic imaging
Somatosensory Cortex - metabolism
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Summary:Axonal myelin increases neural processing speed and efficiency. It is unknown whether patterns of myelin distribution are fixed or whether myelinating oligodendrocytes are continually generated in adulthood and maintain the capacity for structural remodeling. Using high-resolution, intravital label-free and fluorescence optical imaging in mouse cortex, we demonstrate lifelong oligodendrocyte generation occurring in parallel with structural plasticity of individual myelin internodes. Continuous internode formation occurred on both partially myelinated and unmyelinated axons, and the total myelin coverage along individual axons progressed up to two years of age. After peak myelination, gradual oligodendrocyte death and myelin degeneration in aging were associated with pronounced internode loss and myelin debris accumulation within microglia. Thus, cortical myelin remodeling is protracted throughout life, potentially playing critical roles in neuronal network homeostasis. The gradual loss of internodes and myelin degeneration in aging could contribute significantly to brain pathogenesis.
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ISSN:1097-6256
1546-1726
DOI:10.1038/s41593-018-0120-6