Christian Lewis
Is it possible to use nano mites, or nano robots to replace, or stimulate neurons within the brain, to allow a boosting of brain function with in the mentally handicapped (in short to include Alzheimer's disease, or other brain defects.)?
11th- Conceptual physics
9/23/13
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The plague of brain disorders is one which has plagued many people for centuries. this issue has prompted much study, but little advancement. The current treatment is the use of different medications, which work with some cases, though do not for others. There is some pressure to find different ways of “curing” these diseases. An especially “important” emphasis has been placed on Alzheimer's disease, due to the number of elderly who get this disease.it has been speculated that 1 in 3 of our elderly will contract this disease. Alzheimer disease,degenerative brain disorder that develops in mid-to-late adulthood. It results in a progressive and irreversible decline in memory and a deterioration of various other cognitive abilities. The disease is characterized by the destruction of nerve cells and neural connections in the cerebral cortex of the brain and by a significant loss of brain mass.
The disease was first described in 1906 by German neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer. By the early 21st century it was recognized as the most common form of dementia among older persons. An estimated 35.6 million people worldwide were living with dementia in 2010[1]. the idea of using these nano robotics in medicine was first proposed by the scientist Richard P. Feynman in his 1960 paper discusses the possible use of the technology is currently a hot topic for discussion , mainly because you are in theory placing robots inside somebodies head, and testing the outcome. To be frank, there is little research done in the field , most of the applications are based on using this to create antibodies. although there is a thought that by placing some nanometer copper wires( copper wires that are nano meters in diameter) they may be able to “sync” the cell endings, and use them to transfer the electrical synapses, also called neuronal junction, the site of transmission of electric nerve impulses between two nerve cells (neurons) or between a neuron and a gland or muscle cell (effector)[In more-complex protozoans,
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specialized cellular structures, or organelles, serve as receptors of stimulus and as effectors of response. Receptors include stiff sensory bristles in ciliates and the light-sensitive eyespots of flagellates]. A synaptic connection between a neuron and a muscle cell is called a neuromuscular junction.
At a chemical synapse each ending, or terminal, of a nerve fibre (presynaptic fibre) swells to form a knoblike structure that is separated from the fibre of an adjacent neuron, called a postsynaptic fibre, by a microscopic space called the synaptic cleft. The typical synaptic cleft is about 0.02 micron wide. The arrival of a nerve impulse at the presynaptic terminals causes the movement toward the presynaptic membrane of membrane-bound sacs, or synaptic vesicles, which fuse with the membrane and release a chemical substance called a neurotransmitter. This substance transmits the nerve impulse to the postsynaptic fibre by diffusing across the synaptic cleft and binding to receptor molecules on the postsynaptic membrane. The chemical binding action alters the shape of the receptors, initiating a series of reactions that open channel-shaped protein molecules. Electrically charged ions then flow through the channels into or out of the neuron. This sudden shift of electric charge across the postsynaptic membrane changes the electric polarization of the membrane, producing the postsynaptic potential, or PSP. If the net flow of positively charged ions into the cell is large enough, then the PSP is excitatory; that is, it can lead to the generation of a new nerve impulse, called an action potential.
Once they have been released and have bound to postsynaptic receptors, neurotransmitter molecules are immediately deactivated by enzymes in the synaptic cleft; they are also taken up by receptors in the presynaptic membrane and recycled. This process causes a series of brief transmission events, each one taking place in only 0.5 to 4.0 milliseconds.
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A single neurotransmitter may elicit different responses from different receptors.For Example ,norepinephrine, a common neurotransmitter in the autonomic nervous system, binds to some
receptors that excite nervous transmission and to others that inhibit it. The membrane of a postsynaptic fibre has many different kinds of receptors, and some presynaptic terminals release more than one type of neurotransmitter. Also, each postsynaptic fibre may form hundreds of competing synapses with many neurons. These variables account for the complex responses of the nervous system to any given stimulus. The synapse, with its neurotransmitter, acts as a physiological valve, directing the conduction of nerve impulses in regular circuits and preventing random or chaotic stimulation of nerves.
Electric synapses allow direct communications between neurons whose membranes are fused by permitting ions to flow between the cells through channels called gap junctions. Found in invertebrates and lower vertebrates, gap junctions allow faster synaptic transmission as well as the synchronization of entire groups of neurons. Gap junctions are also found in the human body, most often between cells in most organs and between glial cells of the nervous system. Chemical transmission seems to have evolved in large and complex vertebrate nervous systems, where transmission of multiple messages over longer distances is required.[1]
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Citations
. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/[1]
Feynman, R. P. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/1976/1/1960Bottom.pdf[2]
these are the ones i've at least quoted, the latter of the two was my main reference. the encyclopedia was used to help gain definitions, and historical facts, and information. tthere are several other papers which i read, urls listed below
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