Breakthrough Study on a Living Slice of Brain Will Help Develop New Drugs, Treatments for Fatal Diseases

Researchers from Aarhus University have gained unique access to brain tissue after it was left following operations. This one-centimeter slice of human brain tissue was kept alive for 12 hours in a petri dish for the first time, opening doors for testing drugs and studying neurotransmitters on living pieces of the brain.

The group led by Emma Louise collaborated with a team of scientists from the University of Copenhagen to extract a piece of brain tissue from the patient's cortex and began a new process to ensure its survival using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). They are planning to prolong its life for at least ten days.

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A picture shows thin slices of Albert Einstein's brain prepared by Marthe Keller in 1955 on display during a preview of the Wellcome Collection's major new exhibition "Brains: mind of matter" in London on March 27, 2012. AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL MEDINA (Photo credit should read MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)

Human Brain Tissue Kept Alive For 12 Hours For the First Time

According to the university's press release, postdoc Louth usually waits in operating rooms at Aarhus University Hospital to fetch a small piece of living brain tissue. Then she will place it in a container with artificial cerebrospinal fluid, which is oxidized and ice cold to keep the small piece of the brain alive in the back seat of her car until she arrives in her laboratory in the University Park.

In their study, titled "Dopaminergic Neuromodulation of Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity in Mature Adult Rodent and Human Cortical Neurons," published in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, the team has compared the dopamine-enriched connections between humans and mice.

Postdoctoral fellow Louth said that mouse studies are like looking at a Nokia 3310 when what is needed to be repaired is an iPhone, an analogy of a human brain. Despite having similar functions, she noted that greater complexity in the human brain is not present in mouse models.

We even know that there are differences in the types of cells and the expression of certain receptors. Therefore, being able to test directly in human tissue is a unique opportunity," Louth said in the press release.

Mail Online reported that the team found their first study that dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for the brain's reward system, strengthens connections in the human brain. This shows the effect of dopamine differs from one species to another and highlights the importance of developing novel treatment options for serious brain disorders, such as brain damage.

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If It's Alive, Does It Still Feel Pain?

This scientific breakthrough opens possibilities of developing novel treatments for severe brain disorders. However, there are ethical concerns raised regarding the slicing and dicing of living human brain tissue.

However, Louth assures that the brain tissue no longer feels pain as every emotion and thought must go through many parts of the brain. The size of the human brain they slice was only 350 µm or approximately one-third of a millimeter, Louth wrote in Science Nordic.

Their research revolves around how neurons communicate with each other. For now, they are working with Allen Institute for Brain Science in the USA, which produces fast-acting viruses that they could use to make specific neurons in the brain luminous when they are working on learning how they communicate.