Social Isolation Results in Nerve Cell Changes that May Lead to Mental Illness

Reduced production of myelin — a type of protective nerve fiber that is lost in diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) — also may play a role in the development of mental illness, say researchers at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The results of their study appear in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Myelin is an insulating material that wraps around the axon, the threadlike part of a nerve cell through which the cell sends impulses to other nerve cells. New myelin is produced by nerve cells called oligodendrocytes both during development and in adulthood to repair damage in the brain of people with diseases such as MS.

The study, led by Patrizia Casaccia, MD, PhD, professor of Neuroscience, Genetics and Genomics; and Neurology at Mount Sinai, has determined that depriving mice of social contact reduced myelin production, demonstrating that the formation of new oligodendrocytes is affected by environmental changes. This research further supports earlier evidence of abnormal myelin in a wide range of psychiatric disorders, including autism, anxiety, schizophrenia and depression. For more information, click here to read the full release.