News tagged with synapses
Structural dynamics underlying memory in aging brains
(Medical Xpress)—When the brains of those who have succumbed to age-related neurodegeneration are analyzed post-mortem, they typically show significant atrophy on all scales. Not only is the cortex thinner ...
Neuroscience
Apr 17, 2013 |
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Take your time: Neurobiology sheds light on the superiority of spaced vs. massed learning
(Medical Xpress) -- College and cramming – often where’s there’s one, the other is not far behind. That said, however, it has been recognized since the late 1800s that repeated periodic exposure ...
Neuroscience
Mar 28, 2012 |
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Study shows how insulin-like molecules play critical role in learning and memory
Though it's most often associated with disorders like diabetes, Harvard researchers have shown how the signaling pathway of insulin and insulin-like peptides plays another critical role in the body – helping ...
Neuroscience
Feb 26, 2013 |
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New study refutes accepted model of memory formation
A study by Johns Hopkins researchers has shown that a widely accepted model of long-term memory formation—that it hinges on a single enzyme in the brain—is flawed. The new study, published in the Jan. 2 issue of Nature, found ...
Neuroscience
Jan 02, 2013 |
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Researchers provide definitive proof for receptor's role in synapse development
Jackson Laboratory researchers led by Associate Professor Zhong-wei Zhang, Ph.D., have provided direct evidence that a specific neurotransmitter receptor is vital to the process of pruning synapses in the brains of newborn ...
Neuroscience
Dec 31, 2012 |
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Study solves birth and migration mysteries of cortex's powerful inhibitors, 'chandelier' cells
A team at CSHL for the 1st time reveals the birth timing and embryonic origin of a critical class of inhibitory brain cells called chandelier cells, tracing the specific paths they take during early development into the cerebral ...
Neuroscience
Nov 22, 2012 |
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Researchers uncover a crucial link between protein synthesis and autism spectrum disorders
Researchers from McGill University and the University of Montreal have identified a crucial link between protein synthesis and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which can bolster new therapeutic avenues. Regulation of protein ...
Autism spectrum disorders
Nov 21, 2012 |
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Researchers report potential new treatment to stop Alzheimer's disease
Last March, researchers at UCLA reported the development of a molecular compound called CLR01 that prevented toxic proteins associated with Parkinson's disease from binding together and killing the brain's neurons.
Alzheimer's disease & dementia
Nov 15, 2012 |
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Uncovering secrets of how intellect and behavior emerge during childhood
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have shown that a single protein plays an oversized role in intellectual and behavioral development. The scientists found that mutations in a single ...
Genetics
Nov 08, 2012 |
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Scientists explain how ketamine vanquishes depression within hours
(Medical Xpress)—Many chronically depressed and treatment-resistant patients experience immediate relief from symptoms after taking small amounts of the drug ketamine. For a decade, scientists have been ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
Oct 04, 2012 |
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Blue Brain Project accurately predicts connections between neurons
One of the greatest challenges in neuroscience is to identify the map of synaptic connections between neurons. Called the "connectome," it is the holy grail that will explain how information flows in the ...
Neuroscience
Sep 17, 2012 |
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Research finds key molecules involved in forming long-term memories
How does one's experience of an event get translated into a memory that can be accessed months, even years later? A team led by University of Pennsylvania scientists has come closer to answering that question, identifying ...
Medical research
Sep 10, 2012 |
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The hippocampus as a decision-maker
(Medical Xpress) -- Synapses are modified through learning. Up until now, scientists believed that a particular form of synaptic plasticity in the brain’s hippocampus was responsible for learning spatial ...
Neuroscience
Jul 19, 2012 |
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Ear delivers sound information to brain in surprisingly organized fashion: study
The brain receives information from the ear in a surprisingly orderly fashion, according to a University at Buffalo study scheduled to appear June 6 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Neuroscience
Jun 05, 2012 |
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Study shows how immune cells change wiring of the developing mouse brain
Researchers have shown in mice how immune cells in the brain target and remove unused connections between brain cells during normal development. This research, supported by the National Institutes of Health, sheds light on ...
Neuroscience
May 23, 2012 |
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Chemical synapse
Chemical synapses are specialized junctions through which neurons signal to each other and to non-neuronal cells such as those in muscles or glands. Chemical synapses allow neurons to form circuits within the central nervous system. They are crucial to the biological computations that underlie perception and thought. They allow the nervous system to connect to and control other systems of the body.
The adult human brain is estimated to contain from 1014 to 5 × 1014 (100-500 trillion) synapses.[citation needed] Each mm3 of cerebral cortex contains roughly a billion of them.
The word "synapse" comes from "synaptein", which Sir Charles Scott Sherrington and colleagues coined from the Greek "syn-" ("together") and "haptein" ("to clasp"). Chemical synapses are not the only type of biological synapse: electrical and immunological synapses also exist. Without a qualifier, however, "synapse" commonly means chemical synapse.
For more information about Chemical synapse, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
