A protein that appears in postsynaptic protein agglomerations has been found to be crucial to their formation. The Kobe University discovery identifies a new key player for synaptic function and sheds ...

Endogenous cannabinoids, also known as endocannabinoids, are neurotransmitters (i.e., chemical messengers naturally produced by the body) that transmit specific signals from one neuron to another.

A team of scientists from the University of Cologne's Institute of Biochemistry has made a decisive discovery about the molecular basis of synapse formation in the central nervous system. They studied ...

Neuronal information in the brain is likely conveyed by spike trains rather than by discrete action potentials 1. In the hippocampus as well as in other brain regions, principal cells spontaneously ...

A research group led by Specially appointed professor, Dr. Tatsuo Suzuki of Shinshu University School of Medicine developed a new purification protocol for Postsynaptic density (PSD) lattice, a core ...

Neurons send signals to each other across small junctions called synapses. Some of these signals involve the flow of potassium, calcium and sodium ions through channel proteins that are embedded ...

Long-term depression (LTD) between cortical layer 4 spiny stellate cells and layer 2/3 pyramidal cells requires the activation of NMDA receptors (NMDARs). In young rodents, this form of LTD has been ...

Synaptic plasticity describes the biological process that enables learning and memory through facilitating changes in the connections between synapses. Interaction with the external world results in ...