How do Sugars alter Brain Plasticity

Can you remember something from yesterday's breakfast but not someone you haven't seen in years? To remember familiar faces or pick up new skills, our brains constantly alter their wiring, but the underlying chemical mechanism is little understood. The process of our brains changing their structure and functionality in response to stimuli like acquiring a new skill or recalling someone's name is referred to as Brain Plasticity.

Brain Plasticity

Neuroplasticity is another name for the process of changes in the brain's structure or functionality.

According to a 2019 review Trusted Source, Brain Plasticity is "the ability of the nervous system to change its activity in response to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli by reorganising its structure, functions, or connections."

 

·         It is well known that following illness or damage, neuronal connections can adapt and become stronger. Physical activity increases the brain's adaptability and resilience to changes in the body.

·         This also occurs when we challenge our brains by learning a new skill or engaging in an activity that calls for concentration and memory. Complex carbohydrates may influence this plasticity and have an impact on memory and learning, according to a recent study.

How did Sugars add in our Food Chain

In the late 1960s, sugar entered the food chain and substituted lipids to hide bitterness and make meals more appealing (Bakke et al., 2018; Moss, 2013). In the 1970s, there was a noticeable move towards more sugar-sweetened beverages (Wolf et al., 2008). Our forefathers received sugar from either seasonal fruit or honey safeguarded by bees. Sugar consumption has tripled globally in the previous half-century, owing in part to the covert use of added sugars in processed foods (Lustig et al., 2012).

Recent Research Conducted on the effect of Sugars on Brain Plasticity

·          According to research presented at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2023 meeting, scientists are investigating how sugar molecules in the brain may affect learning and memory.

·         The research, which was presented at ACS 2023, demonstrates how complex sugar molecules known as glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) influence brain plasticity. Only mice have been used in the experiment. Although the sugars in fruits, chocolates, and cakes are simple types of sugars, when they are mixed, they create a variety of complex sugars. According to an ACS press release, sulphate groups and other chemical structures can be attached to generate GAGs.

·         The discoveries may offer fresh perspectives on neurodevelopmental disorders like autism.

·         In the future, ideally, we will be able to use the knowledge we get from studying the chemistry of GAGs in the brain to repair or strengthen the neuronal connections involved in memory.

Effects of Sugar on the Brain

The function of GAGs can be altered by patterns of sulfation, a sort of chemical alteration.

The goal of the study was to determine how altering this pattern may impact mice's neuroplasticity.

In order to achieve this, they specifically removed a gene that is crucial for two sulfation patterns on GAG chondroitin sulphate.

The sorts of synaptic connections between neurons were altered by gene deletion.

 

The mice lost their ability to identify other mice they had previously encountered afterward, according to the researchers, indicating that these structures had an impact on social memory.

The findings, which were observed in both young and old mice, indicate that it may be feasible to alter or enhance particular synaptic connections in the brain.

The researchers hypothesize that this knowledge may enable brain connections to be strengthened or rewired during adolescence and maturity.

The researchers said they intend to use this knowledge to improve or restore memory functions in the brain in the future.

"This is an exciting study," said Dr. Ilan Danan, a sports neurologist and pain management expert at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles' Centre for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine.

 She notes that "these sugars regulate a wide variety of proteins, and their structures change during development and with disease." At the California Institute of Technology is Hsieh-Wilson.

The function of GAGs can be altered by patterns of sulfation, a sort of chemical alteration. The effect this pattern might have on neuroplasticity was observed by the researchers. According to Medical News Today, scientists achieved this by deleting a gene that is crucial for the sulfation patterns on the GAG chondroitin sulphate. The sorts of synaptic connections between neurons were altered by gene deletion. The findings showed how social memory was impacted by the inability to recognize familiar faces. This demonstrates that during adolescence and adulthood, the brain may be able to remodel or fortify connections.

Chondroitin sulphate, which is present throughout the extracellular matrix surrounding the many brain cells, is the most prevalent GAG type in the brain. In addition, chondroitin sulphate can create "perineuronal nets," which encircle certain neurons and maintain their synaptic connections.

Sulfation motifs, or patterns of sulphate groups attached to the sugar chains, are one technique to alter a GAG's function. Hsieh-Wilson's group is curious about how these sulfation patterns change and how they can influence biological processes like neuroplasticity and social memory. Researchers may be able to control these functions as a potential treatment for central nervous system injuries, neurodegenerative illnesses, or psychiatric problems one day.

When the researchers removed the Chst11 gene, which is responsible for the formation of two main sulfation patterns on chondroitin sulphate in mice, abnormalities in their perineuronal nets developed. However, in the absence of the sulfation motifs, the number of nets rose, modifying the sorts of synaptic connections between neurons. Furthermore, the mice were unable to recognise mice to which they had previously been introduced, implying that these patterns influence social memory.

Interestingly, these nets may be more dynamic than previously imagined, possibly playing a role in both childhood and adulthood. When the researchers selectively targeted Chst11 in the brains of adult mice, they discovered the same effects on perineuronal nets and social memory. "That result suggests that it may be possible to manipulate these nets during adolescence or adulthood to potentially rewire or strengthen certain synaptic connections," Hsieh-Wilson says.

The scientists also wanted to know how GAGs and their sulfation patterns affected axon regeneration, or the ability of neurons to reconstruct themselves after injury, in other recent tests. The researchers are currently looking for protein receptors that bind certain sulfation patterns. So far, they've discovered that certain motifs trigger these receptors to congregate at the cell's surface and hinder regeneration. This process could be inhibited in order to develop methods or therapies to stimulate axon regeneration. More understanding of this process, according to Hsieh-Wilson, could someday aid in the healing of damage caused by certain neurodegenerative disorders or strokes.

The researchers hope that the findings, which have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, would pave the way for possible brain injury treatment.

"Understanding how these molecules affect social memory could give us insights into neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, such as autism, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, which are often characterised by deficits in social memory and the types of changes in synapses, the connections that we observe this molecule produces," Hsieh-Wilson says.

The researchers are currently investigating whether GAGs and sulphate patterns can aid in the ability to repair neurons following a brain injury.