One of the brain's most celebrated qualities is its adaptability. Changes to neural circuits, whose connections are continually adjusted as we experience and interact with the world, are key to how we ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. One of the brain’s most important properties is its flexibility ...

Neurons stochastically generated up to eight different versions of a protein regulating neurotransmitter release, which could vary how they communicate with other cells. Neurons are talkers. They each ...

The idea that the nervous system passes messages from one nerve cell to another only through synapses — the points where the cells link up end to end — is changing. Two studies show how messages can ...

Scientists have created one of the most detailed 3D images of the synapse, the important juncture where neurons communicate with each other through an exchange of chemical signals. These nanometer ...

Experimental electron micrograph of purified synaptic vesicles (upper). Synaptic vesicles automatically identified in the image with a new computer program are highlighted with different colours and ...

The human brain contains nearly 86 billion neurons, constantly exchanging messages like an immense social media network, but neurons do not work alone – glial cells, neurotransmitters, receptors, and ...

Researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas’ Center for Advanced Pain Studies (TX, USA) and their colleagues have made a fundamental discovery about a key mechanism that enables nervous system ...

New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest ...

How do we learn something new? How do tasks at a new job, lyrics to the latest hit song, or directions to a friend’s house become encoded in our brains? The broad answer is that our brains undergo ...

Cancer often results from the dysregulation of normal cellular mechanisms, because tumour cells can co-opt such processes to increase their own survival, proliferation and invasiveness. A great deal ...

More than a century ago, the anatomist Santiago Ramón y Cajal unveiled his incredibly detailed drawings of neurons. From these, he posited that neurons were the main building blocks of the brain and ...