GABA-ergic interneurons provide diverse inhibitions that are essential for the operation of neuronal circuits in the neocortex. However, the mechanisms that control the functional organization of ...

The coexistence of electrical and chemical synapses among interneurons is essential for interneuron function in the neocortex. However, it remains largely unclear whether electrical coupling between ...

Plasticity - the brain's ability to change based on experience and its own activity - is a key to critical functions such as making memories. For the first time, Brown University scientists have shown ...

Whether in the brain or in the muscles, wherever there are nerve cells, there are synapses. These contact points between neurons form the basis for the transmission of excitation, the communication ...

(Nanowerk Spotlight) The human brain processes complex information while consuming merely the power of a dim light bulb. This remarkable efficiency stems from synapses, the connections between brain ...

Most nerve cells use messenger chemicals to communicate. Now science is learning more about the brain's rarer, lightning-fast electrical signaling Too hot! As our fingertips graze the hot stove, their ...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 102, No. 37 (Sep. 13, 2005), pp. 13313-13318 (6 pages) Retinal bipolar cells are known to form a complex, ...

A child with absence epilepsy may be in the middle of doing something—she could be dancing, studying, talking—when all of a sudden she stares off into space for a few moments. Then, as quickly as she ...

The mammalian brain is an intricately wired network of neuronal cells that is capable of executing complex processing of sensory information to determine organism behavior. Essential for the ...

CALL it the first brain hack. The humble nematode worm has had its neural connections hot-wired, changing the way it responds to salt and smells. As well as offering a way to create souped-up ...