Internet Journal of Emerging Medical Technologies

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Neuron Membrane Model to Study Alzheimer's

Posted on July 24, 2008

NIST scientists have built a model of the membrane that surrounds neurons in the brain, a tool which should help to discover the mechanisms behind Alzheimer's onset.The brain s neurons transmit nerve impulses down a long stem that is surrounded by a two-layer membrane. In the neuron s normal, rest state, this membrane actively sorts sodium ions to the outside of the cell and potassium ions to the inside. To transmit a nerve impulse, an electrochemical change ripples down the membrane in advance of the impulse, making it temporarily more permeable and allowing the ions to swap places....

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alzheimers , potassium , sulfur