Transcript

Hello. I'm Natalie dudy from the University of Leeds, and I'm going to talk to you about spider webs in your brain that are involved in memory, also known as perineuronal nets. Perineuronal nets, or pnns for short, were first described and drawn by the neuroscientist Golgi in the 1890s pnns are honeycomb-like structures that surround cell bodies and dendrites of some neuron populations within the central nervous system. Fast forward over a century, we now know that PNNs are important structures that are involved in learning and memory and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The way that pnns are formed is similar to spiders making their webs.

An enzyme on the surface of neurons called hyaluronan synthase produces a backbone of hyaluronan creating the structure of the p&n, which is similar to spiders spinning their webs. Once the hyaluronan net is formed, it binds other molecules, such as Link proteins, chondroitin sulfate, proteoglycans and tenacines that cross link the structure like spider webs trapping water leaves and flies. When the PNN is fully formed, it stabilizes synapses within the holes of the net and acts as a physical barrier to prevent new synaptic connections from forming as the formation of new synapses is important for memory formation. PNNs have been studied to investigate ways of improving learning and memory.