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 ...

(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 ...

Scientists at Yale and the University of Connecticut have taken a major step in understanding how animal brains make decisions, revealing a crucial role for electrical synapses in “filtering” sensory ...

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 ...

They are part of the brain of almost every animal species, yet they remain usually invisible even under the electron microscope. "Electrical synapses are like the dark matter of the brain," says ...

As intangible as they may seem, memories have a firm biological basis. According to textbook neuroscience, they form when neighboring brain cells send chemical communications across the synapses, or ...

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 ...

The brain's ability to reorganize itself - strengthening or weakening connections between neurons or adding or subtracting those connections - allows it to form memories, make transitions between ...