By studying eye nerve cells in mice, scientists have found two proteins that are crucial for ‘proper wiring’ of nerve cell circuits. The two proteins, DSCAM and DSCAML1, are important because they work like the olive oil in the spaghetti, preventing the nerves from clogging together.

Too much or too little of these proteins in the brain could turn out to have a role in many human neurodevelopmental disorders and Tourette Syndrome, says the lead researcher, Associate Professor Robert Burgess. ‘What these disorders share is that there's nothing really grossly wrong with the brain - all the major parts are there and are more or less connected the way they should be, with some minor abnormalities’, he says. Now scientists can begin to investigate these proteins effect in other animal models, and humans, to see if they work the same across species.

Tourettes Action's Honorary Medical Director Dr Jeremy Stern commented that this is an interesting study but any impact on Tourette Syndrome would be in the future.

 
For a link to the original paper, see http://www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273%2809%2900738-7.

For a press release from the Jackson Laboratory about this study, see http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=7783.