Salmon brain

1992/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

Data on nerve regeneration can be extracted from the salmon brain. This is what Sven Ebbensson and his colleagues at the University of Alaska say after analyzing the abundant silver salmon of the Alaska Sea (Oncorhychus Kisutch).

Researchers have found that the brain of these fish recovers when they flow downstream. For example, when salmon is 18 months old, the part of the brain that handles smell increases by 70%. The number of nerve cells increases and the nerve fibers in charge of vision connect elsewhere in the brain.

The simplicity of the salmon brain greatly facilitates the detection of these changes. Ebbensson, to know the nerve pathways, injects color into the brain and analyzes the propagation of color. Thus, you can identify some neurotransmitters and their location.

In the case of mammals, specialization occurs only once in the fetus. Therefore, closely monitor the factors that control development

is difficult. Therefore, salmon trials can help better understand the behavior of human nerves.