SYDNEY, 24 May 2006 - A molecule that plays a key role in establishing the major nerve connections between each side of the adult brain has been identified, paving the way for treatments for epilepsy and mental retardation.

A team led by Queensland Brain Institute laboratory head, associate professor Helen Cooper said her group's research provided new clues regarding development of the corpus callosum, the main connecting nerve tract that shuttles information between the left and right hemispheres of the adult brain.

"Our study is the first to identify a growth molecule that guides young nerves away from the corpus callosum and towards their targets in the opposite hemisphere," Cooper said.

"This process is critical for the transmission of sensory information effectively throughout the adult brain."

The corpus callosum has millions of individual nerve fibres. If these fibres fail to reach their correct targets in the opposite hemisphere, people can suffer from epilepsy, and experience some degree of mental retardation.

However the UQ researchers and colleagues at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne have identified the 'Ryk receptor molecule' that helps control development of the corpus callosum.

"We have shown that the Ryk receptor molecule facilitates the targeting of individual nerve fibres," Cooper said.

A paper outlining functions of the Ryk receptor molecule was published in the today's edition of The Journal of Neuroscience.