Leptin is a hormone released by fat cells in adult organisms, and researchers have largely focused on how it controls appetite. In a study published May 18 in Science Signaling, the authors show that ...

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 ...

Expansion microscopy image with synaptic boutons (green) of climbing fibers on a Purkinje cell (blue) from the cerebellum of a mouse. The Institute of Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish ...

When there are fewer dendritic spines, fewer synapses are formed, and brain cells struggle to communicate properly. This ...

“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 ...

Within the brain and other parts of the nervous system, synapses are key junctional points in between neurons (the nerve cells) where critical signals are transmitted. More specifically, the ...

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 ...

Researchers have discovered that the cell adhesion protein IgSF11 determines the layer-specific synaptic connectivity of a distinct class of cortical interneurons. With its breathtaking views and ...