The formation of excitatory and inhibitory synapses between neurons during early development gives rise to the neuronal networks that enable sensory and cognitive functions in humans. Inhibitory ...

Schematic representation of axonal transport vesicles (blue) carrying presynaptic proteins (SV and AZ proteins). Kinesin motor proteins (KIF1A) attach these vesicles and carry them along the axons to ...

“You expect nerve cells to grow to find the one they like,” said Alan Roberts, a neuroscientist at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and lead author of the study. “These experiments suggest they ...

Scientists from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and the University of Edinburgh have discovered that a little-understood junction that connects neurons to oligodendrocyte precursor cells ...

Representative cryo-electron microscopy image: a coloured image of the 3D structure of gephyrin, which was calculated from the data. A team of scientists from the University of Cologne’s Institute of ...

Many neurological diseases are malfunctions of synapses, or the points of contact between neurons that allow senses and other information to pass from finger to brain. In the brain, there is a careful ...

Co-written with Jai Liester. Silent synapses represent one of neuroscience's most fascinating discoveries—connections between neurons that lie dormant until activated by specific triggers. These ...

Research on fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental retardation, has focused mostly on how the genetic defect alters the functioning of neurons in the brain. A new study focusing ...

Flies carrying disease-causing microbes will likely contaminate the food they touch, but different factors determine whether the person who eats it will get sick. A series of rodent experiments showed ...