| Many people around the world have made important | | | | reduction in dendrites or even axon length, motor |
| studies about the relevance of thyroid deficiency | | | | system are seriously affected. |
| during birth on one structure of the brain called cerebral | | | | The deficiency in thyroid hormone has a critical |
| cortex. Such abnormalities are related to sensitivity and | | | | relevance during the period of formation of a human |
| motor functions. Researchers try to know more about | | | | being in pregnancy. So many of the alterations |
| the specific points of development of nervous system | | | | produced in this stage even with a supplementation of |
| on which thyroid hormones are involved, and then they | | | | thyroid hormones at birth, could not be repaired at |
| attempt to organize the information to correlate | | | | integrity remaining defects which can produce different |
| deficiencies in such hormones and behavioral | | | | syndromes. However also during adulthood, a |
| manifestations in adult stage. | | | | deficiency in thyroid hormones can cause serious |
| One of the effects observed after thyroid hormone | | | | dysfunctions, but in this period apparently an adequate |
| deficiency is and increase in the number of nerve cells | | | | supplementation can restore completely both the |
| but a decrease in their size, in the cerebral cortex. | | | | thyroid imbalance and impaired functions. |
| It is important to note here that cerebral cortex | | | | Since thyroid hormones have a broad spectrum on cell |
| participates in many functions of the body; some of | | | | functions of different regions of the nervous system |
| them are control of movements, speech, thinking and in | | | | not only cerebral cortex, their lack affect in a wide |
| general higher mental functions. So any change in the | | | | manner structures along the neuroaxis: head and spinal |
| pattern of the neurons that builds cerebral cortex | | | | cord. |
| affects these and other equally important functions. | | | | An impairment could be seen in olfactory bulbs (above |
| Apart from changes in number and size of neurons, | | | | nose) reducing cell formation. Also hippocampus, an |
| other abnormalities observed following thyroid hormone | | | | structure directly involved in memory, show a reduced |
| deficiency are a reduction in growth and branching of | | | | number of cells when thyroid hormones are lacking or |
| dendrites (those little ramifications in neurons) | | | | in low levels. |
| particularly in one type of cells known as pyramidal, | | | | In general the brain of people suffering hypothyroidism |
| which are involved in the control of skeletal muscles, in | | | | could be smaller and its shape is abnormal when |
| other words those responsible for voluntary | | | | compared with that of persons with normal thyroid |
| movements. | | | | hormone levels, particularly if deficiency occurs during |
| When the communication between nerve cells called | | | | pregnancy when nervous system is developing and |
| synapses is disturbed by any cause like in this case by | | | | growing. |