BDNF and NGF switch on

BDNF and NGF are the growth factors nerve cells use to survive, branch and build new connections. Within an hour Semax raises the messenger RNA for both in glial cells, the support cells around neurons. In the hippocampus, the memory centre, it lifts BDNF and its receptor TrkB together, so the signal and the lock that receives it rise at the same time. The rise shifts by brain region and by hour, which is the pattern of a tuned signal, not a flood.