FMRP-mediated regulation of syngap1 translation and its impact on NMDAR-mediated signalling in a model of Intellectual Disability, syngap1

Abstract

The ancient Egyptians were the first known people to use the word 'Brain' when they mentioned about some of the “head-related” illnesses in the papyrus scriptures. Strangely, they used to believe that the heart is the repository of memory and site of learning and not the brain (Győry 2008). Later, the famous Greek Physician, Hippocrates (460 B.C-370 B.C.), proposed that two halves of the brain can work independently (‘Mental duality’) and it was the seat of intelligence (WALSHE 1961) Since then, human beings were curious to know the function of the brain and started to explore and further understand the various functions of the brain. In the early nineteenth century, Bell and Megandie proposed that nerves consisted of many wire-like structures; some send information from the periphery such as muscles to the brain, and some send information from the brain to the muscles (Jorgensen 2003) (http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/hist.html#0). Based on research over many decades, neuroscience in recent years has emerged into an amalgamation of multidiscipline —from the molecules to cognition (higher level mental activity). Neuroscience can be classified in many subparts; such as Molecular Neuroscience, Cellular Neuroscience, Systems Neuroscience, Behavioural Neuroscience, and Cognitive Neuroscience (Bear, Connors et al. 2007, Kandel 2013). In spite of the studies on the brain for many years, it remains a puzzle, possibly because of its structural and functional complexity and heterogeneity, and due to lack of techniques to study neuronal function.