Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

The brain's immune cells—primarily microglia and astrocytes—constantly monitor neural tissue and respond to damage, but when that response becomes chronic or dysregulated, it can accelerate the very destruction it evolved to prevent. Researchers studying neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration are trying to understand how this immune activity unfolds across conditions like Alzheimer's disease, ischemic stroke, and traumatic brain injury, tracing the molecular signals—cytokines, receptors like TREM2, and processes like synaptic pruning—that tip the balance between protection and harm. A central open question is why the same inflammatory machinery that clears damaged cells in one context seems to drive neuron loss in another, and whether therapeutically targeting specific microglial states could slow disease progression without impairing the brain's legitimate immune defenses.

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Keywords

MicrogliaNeuroinflammationNeurodegenerationAstrocytesSynaptic PruningIschemic Stroke