Summary: LMU researchers report neural activity in the auditory system has a direct effect on myelination. Higher levels of neural activity resulted in the formation of thicker myelin sheaths and enhanced speed of signal transmission.

Source: LMU.

An LMU study reveals that sound-evoked activity of neurons in the auditory system of the mouse increases the thickness of their myelin sheaths – and enhances the speed of signal transmission – both during development and in the adult brain.

Nerve cells communicate by means of electrical impulses, which are transmitted along neural processes known as axons.

The speed of transmission depends on several factors, including the diameter of the axon and the thickness of the electrically insulating myelin sheaths that surround the axons.

As a rule, transmission speeds are positively correlated with the diameter and the thickness of the sheath. In mammals, the functional demands made on…