Molecules of 'sixth sense' proposed for use in treatment of scoliosis

A sense of one's body position, known as proprioception, allows the central nervous system to send signals through motor neurons to muscles so that we can perform a certain movement.

This sixth sense, which, unlike the other five, is completely unconscious, prevents us from falling in the dark and allows us to bring a cup of coffee to our mouth in the morning with our eyes closed. In addition, people without proprioception cannot perform coordinated movements.

According to Medical Xpress, scientists at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine have discovered genes associated with the "sixth sense."

Using individual cell sequencing, the team investigated which genes in the pSN of the abdominal, back and leg muscles are most and least active. The scientists showed that most of the genes important for proprioreception become active as early as the embryonic stage. This means that there are genetic programs that decide whether a certain receptor will receive information from the abdominal, back or limb muscles. The team also found that the connections between the proprioreceptors and the hind limb muscles were disrupted in mice that could not produce the protein ephrin-A5.

The traits the scientists identified will allow the creation of better neuroprostheses. In addition, the authors of the study noted that the role of improper proprioreception in the formation of scoliosis has recently been discovered and their findings may help combat the root cause of scoliosis.

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