In a study published in Brain, a team led by professor Nicholas Barnes at the University of Birmingham has identified a critical receptor that, when blocked, inhibits neuroinflammation. This first-of-its-kind work with human brain tissue demonstrates how interrupting this pathway could open the door to treating a wide spectrum of chronic neurological conditions. These include not only traumatic brain injury (TBI) but also neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and even psychiatric disorders such as depression and psychosis. These latter conditions are increasingly understood to have a neuroinflammatory component.
