Journal
GLIA
Volume 69, Issue 1, Pages 5-19Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/glia.23868
Keywords
clemastine; motor abilities; myelin; neuron-glia interaction; social behavior; white matter; Williams syndrome
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Funding
- Fritz Thyssen Stiftung
- SPARK Tel Aviv
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University
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This review explores the role of myelin in neurological and psychiatric disorders, with a focus on its impact in Williams syndrome. The authors suggest that improving myelin deficits could serve as a therapeutic mechanism for these disorders.
Myelin is the electrical insulator surrounding the neuronal axon that makes up the white matter (WM) of the brain. It helps increase axonal conduction velocity (CV) by inducing saltatory conduction. Damage to the myelin sheath and WM is associated with many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Decreasing myelin deficits, and thus improving axonal conduction, has the potential to serve as a therapeutic mechanism for reducing the severity of some of these disorders. Myelin deficits have been previously linked to abnormalities in social behavior, suggesting an interplay between brain connectivity and sociability. This review focuses on Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic disorder characterized by neurocognitive characteristics and motor abnormalities, mainly known for its hypersociability characteristic. We discuss fundamental aspects of WM in WS and how its alterations can affect motor abilities and social behavior. Overall, findings regarding changes in myelin genes and alterations in WM structure in WS suggest new targets for drug therapy aimed at improving conduction properties and altering brain-activity synchronization in this disorder.
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