Browsing by Subject "Dendritic spines"

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    Estradiol-mediated modulation of memory and of the underlying dendritic spine plasticity through the life span
    (Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Biologia Celular e Histiologia, 2024) González Burgos, Ignacio; Velázquez Zamora, Dulce A.; González Tapia, David
    The morphophysiology of the nervous system changes and adapts in response to external environmental inputs and the experiences of individuals throughout their lives. Other changes in the organisms internal environment can also contribute to nervous system restructuring in the form of plastic changes that underlie its capacity to adapt to emerging psycho-physiological conditions. These adaptive processes lead to subtle modifications of the organisms internal homeostasis which is closely related with the activity of chemical messengers, such as neurotransmitters and hormones. Hormones reach the brain through the bloodstream, where they activate specific receptors through which certain biochemical, physiological, and morphological changes take place in numerous regions. Fetal development, infancy, puberty, and adulthood are all periods of substantial hormone-mediated brain remodeling in both males and females. Adulthood, specifically, is associated with a broad range of life events, including reproductive cycles in both sexes, and pregnancy and menopause in women. Events of this kind occur concomitantly with eventual modifications in behavioral performance and, especially, in cognitive abilities like learning and memory that underlie, at least in part, plastic changes in the dendritic spines of the neuronal cells in cerebral areas involved in processing cognitive information. Estrogens form a family that consists of three molecules [17β-estradiol (E2), estrone, estriol] which are deeply involved in regulating numerous bodily functions in different stages of the life-cycle, including the modulation of cognitive performance. This review addresses the effects of E2 on the dendritic spine-mediated synaptic organization of cognitive performance throughout the life span.
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    The Golgi method. A historical through contemporary view
    (Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Biologia Celular e Histiologia, 2025) González Burgos, Ignacio
    Knowledge regarding the biology of the nervous system and its functions has gone through various theoretical, methodological, and interpretative stages throughout history, depending largely on technical advances that have allowed us not only to approach old questions from new perspectives but also to address new ones. One advance that constituted a watershed in the history of neuroscience was the appearance of a chrome-silver staining technique called the Golgi method that allowed the complete, three-dimensional observation of nerve cells. Discovered by Camilo Golgi and, later, modified significantly and employed by Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Golgi’s method was crucial in demonstrating the veracity of the Neuronal Theory over the earlier Reticular Theory, and in revealing numerous findings related to the human brain and those of many other animal species, which continue to be analyzed today. Despite a period of scientific recession in the first half of the 20th century, the use of the Golgi method prevailed and even expanded in the second half of that century and into the 21st, as researchers continued to use it in its original or modified form and in combination with emerging methodologies. Currently, there are no signs of any decline in its use.