Alcohol Doesn't Just Affect Neurons – It Triggers Immune Cells to Destroy The Brain's Structural Matrix, Mouse Study Shows - ScienceAlert
It's well known that alcohol has profound consequences on the way the brain works, and research shows that even low levels of the drug can damage your brain. But how does alcohol actually cause brain damage at the cellular level? In a surprising discovery reported in Immunity, scientists found that alcohol doesn't just interact with neurons. New findings show the drug also affects immune cells in the brain called microglia, triggering them to dismantle the extracellular matrix that structurally supports brain cells. "For years, alcohol's effects on the brain were largely viewed through the lens of neurons, and for good reason: alcohol acts directly on neuronal receptors," says neuroscientist and senior author of the study Dimitrios Davalos from the Cleveland Clinic. "By following microglia in real time, we were able to see that they aren't simply responding to damage. They drive the detrimental changes alcohol causes in the brain. "Experiments showing how alcohol use negatively affects the brain's microglia immune cells over time.
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