A team of South Korean and American researchers has taken a step closer to unveiling the mystery surrounding the death of neural cells in human brain.

Profs. Sun Woong and Kim Hyun of Korea University said they have discovered that a gene known as "Bax" plays a decisive role in the programmed cell death of neurons differentiated from neural stem cells in adult brains.

The researchers say they made the discovery in an experiment with mice when they learned that the gene's artificial removal from test animals completely halted the death of neurons and increased the neurons' number continuously with the passage of time.

Prof. Kim says their discovery could be used in finding cures for currently incurable ailments like Lou Gehrig's Disease, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

The research was conducted jointly by the two Korean professors and a group of researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina.

Their findings were published in the December 8th Issue of the U.S. Journal of Neuroscience.