#13 Neurobiology Of Touch — PhD Igor Adameyko
Is it pleasure? Is it pain?
Itch is an enigma—it just hurts so good!
Learn more about the Neurobiology Of Touch with PhD Igor Adameyko including:
- Pleasure and pain neuronal physiology
- Coming from a single cell
- Scientific research on indian yogis STOPPING THEIR HEART without dieing
- The oh so long neurons of whales
- The uniqueness on this experience of life
- Expanding perception through science
Watch The Sensual Sessions #13:
About Igor Adameyko
Currently, Dr. Igor Adameyko is a Professor and a Department Chair at Center for Brain Research of Medical University of Vienna and a group leader at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. Prof. Adameyko is known for the discovery of multipotency of nerve-associated Schwann cell precursors, a population of neural crest derived cells with exceptional plasticity and distribution in the body.
The studies of Dr. Adameyko introduced a radically new concept for developmental biology in that defined precursor pools existing in a highly specialized niche use nerves as conduits to migrate and differentiate through temporally and spatially delineated nerve-Schwann cell communication. Can Schwann cells be genuinely multipotent? If so, this would transform the above discoveries into a global concept in which nerve-associated progenitors could generate various cell types during not only physiological development but also adulthood. Moreover, any such cell pool could be exploited to regenerate damaged tissues in tandem with regaining sensory nerve functions. This notion is plausible since nerves traverse the entire body from early embryonic development on and their in-growth coincides with the expansion of cell pools in the organs they target. For decades, the prevailing concept was that the only function of these peripheral nerves is to maintain activity patterns, thus mostly sending unidirectional information. Instead, Igor Adameyko proposed a non-canonical role in which nerve-associated glia also generates parasympathetic neurons (Science, 2014), neuroendocrine chromaffin cells (Science, 2017) and mesenchymal stem cells in tooth (Nature, 2014). These studies also showed that resident Schwann cells retain their potential to produce other cell fates in adulthood, advocating their utilization as a source of transplantable cells. At the moment, many other independent research groups have by now reproduced Adameyko’s original observations, and expanded the concept of multipotent nerve-associated Schwann cells building peripheral tissues. Thus, in a period spanning only a few years, the concept of peripheral nerves serving as a “niche” and migration “highways” has entered mainstream research, and led to a revision of how the parasympathetic and sympatho-adrenal systems become established at precise locations and with adequate cell numbers during fetal development.
Historically, Igor Adameyko’s background is in developmental biology. Having extensive embryology-based experience, it is only natural that the lab continues on this path today by exploring the origin of norm and pathology, congenital diseases and paediatric cancers arising in the early or late embryo.
And Igor is also an extraordinary photographer of Marine Biodiversity.
Follow his Instagram account here: @the_story_of_a_biologist
What´s Next?
Go To The Sensual Sessions #14: How To Be Naked With The Lights On Beyond Shame
More Resources About: Core Anatomy
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