Spine Health & Spinal Hygiene

Neurons are believed to establish neuronal connections through innate predetermined programs during the developmental process of the brain. It’s also believed that neurons gravitate to areas of attraction and move away from areas of repulsion in a theory known as the chemoaffinity hypothesis. The Chemoaffinity hypothesis claims that neurons first make connections with their targets based on interactions with specific molecular markers and, therefore, that the first wiring diagram of an organism is indirectly determined by its genotype.

 

These markers are created during cellular differentiation and aid not just with synaptogenesis, but also act as guidance cues for their individual axon. The development of the mature nervous system formations demands axons to navigate to their correct targets in order to establish neuronal connections or synaptic connections. Growing axons create highly motile structures, known as growth cones, which direct the axon to its goal. They do it by responding to specific guidance molecules that either attract or repel the growth cone.