James W. Fawcett, Anne E. Rosser, and Stephen B. Dunnett
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198523376
- eISBN:
- 9780191724534
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198523376.003.0009
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Techniques
The developing nervous system produces about twice as many neurons as will survive into adulthood, and then at the end of development, around the time of birth in mammals, there is a short period ...
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The developing nervous system produces about twice as many neurons as will survive into adulthood, and then at the end of development, around the time of birth in mammals, there is a short period termed the ‘period of ontogenetic cell death’ during which about half the neurones die. Trophic factors have a well-characterised role in the control of this process. The first trophic factor to be characterised was nerve growth factor (NGF): Rita Levi-Montalcini and Stanley Cohen received a Nobel prize for their pioneering work in the identification of this molecule. Subsequently, many other neuronal trophic factors have been discovered, many of them mentioned later in this chapter, but NGF has provided the prototype for all that followed.Less
The developing nervous system produces about twice as many neurons as will survive into adulthood, and then at the end of development, around the time of birth in mammals, there is a short period termed the ‘period of ontogenetic cell death’ during which about half the neurones die. Trophic factors have a well-characterised role in the control of this process. The first trophic factor to be characterised was nerve growth factor (NGF): Rita Levi-Montalcini and Stanley Cohen received a Nobel prize for their pioneering work in the identification of this molecule. Subsequently, many other neuronal trophic factors have been discovered, many of them mentioned later in this chapter, but NGF has provided the prototype for all that followed.
