Methods to Study the Myelination of the Central Nervous System

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editor

Boaz Barak, PhD

Tel Aviv University, Sagol School of Neuroscience and The School of Psychological Sciences

Dr. Barak is an Assistant Professor in Sagol School of Neuroscience and The School of Psychological Sciences at Tel Aviv University. In lab, his team study the neurobiological mechanisms responsible for abnormal social and anxiety-like behaviors in genetic neuropsychiatric disorders such as Williams syndrome and autism. Dr. Barak’s laboratory special interests are neurogenetics and neurodevelopmental aspects of psychiatric disorders, myelin and behavior interplay, functional neuroanatomy of the social brain, molecular processes and cell signaling, and therapeutic approaches. He did his postdoctoral advanced training with Prof. Guoping Feng at MIT, and his PhD thesis on synaptic transmission in Prof. Uri Ashery’s laboratory at Tel Aviv University. He is the recipient of various prizes and fellowships, among them The Alon Fellowship for outstanding young faculty, and Dan David prize scholarship for young promising researchers. Dr. Barak was involved in various research projects at University of California, Berkeley, NIH and more, and graduated in Biology with honors from Tel Aviv University. Dr. Barak is a prestigious author of scientific articles published in world-leading journals, such as Nature Biotechnology, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, Molecular Psychiatry, eLife, PNAS and more.

Collection Overview

Within the central nervous system, the conduction velocity and efficiency of action potentials rely on myelin, a fatty, multilayered sheath, formed by oligodendrocytes on the axons of neurons. Along with other factors, the complex interaction between oligodendrocytes and their environment determines the development and functionality of the myelination process. Myelination is regulated by orderly sequenced and tightly regulated biochemically-specific pathways, to allow proper ultrastructure and functionality of myelin. Unfortunately, multiple neurological conditions and neuropsychiatric disorders are characterized by deficient myelination, leading to altered neural functioning and behavioral deficits. To better study the development and function of central nervous system myelination, and to overcome these challenges, unique methodological approaches are needed. The objective of the current collection is to compile a set of critically important and complementary methods commonly used in vitro and in vivo, to study myelination in the central nervous system. Futhermore, some of the methods may also be adapted and applied to the peripheral nervous system.