When neuroscientists analyzed the exact properties of nerve connections in the brain, they made a startling observation: At a key connection, or synapse, messages are sent against the usual stream of ...

A new study reveals how young synapses gradually mature to send chemical signals correctly — a process that can take days and depends on neural activity.

Nervous system functions, from motion to perception to cognition, depend on the active zones of neural circuit connections ...

This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses how gestational dexamethasone exposure impacts hippocampal excitatory synaptic transmission and learning and memory function ...

How do people think, feel, remember, and move? These processes rely on synaptic transmission, where chemical signals are passed between nerve cells using molecular structures called vesicles.

(1) A nerve impulse arrives. (2) This causes calcium ion channels to open, resulting in an influx of calcium ions in the terminal. (3) This causes synaptic vesicles to fuse with the terminal membrane, ...

The synaptotagmin protein family has been studied by neuroscientists for decades. However, most isoforms lack well-defined functions. Now, researchers have identified a crucial, presynaptic role for ...

Two distinct pools of synaptic vesicles appear to be involved in the spontaneous release of neurotransmitters and in neurotransmission triggered by a stimulus, researchers report in Neuron this week.

Transmission electron microscopy reveals the architecture of cells at nanometer resolution, but chemical fixation severely warps their native structure. The true ultrastructure of cells can be ...