Neuroscience

How synaptic vesicles accumulate glutamate

In the brain, neurons communicate via neurotransmitters, which trigger electrical signals in downstream neurons by binding and activating specific receptors. Neurotransmitters are released through the fusion of synaptic vesicles, ...

Neuroscience

Novel sensors enable precise measurement of dopamine

Dopamine is an important signaling molecule for nerve cells. Its concentration could not be precisely determined with both high spatial or temporal resolution until now. A new method has now made this possible: A research ...

Neuroscience

Synaptic transmission: Not a one-way street

Information flows in a well-defined direction in the brain: Chemical and electrical signals are passed from one neuron to the other across the synapse, from the pre-synaptic to the post-synaptic neuron. Now, Peter Jonas and ...

Neuroscience

Nerve cells let others 'listen in'

How many 'listeners' a nerve cell has in the brain is strictly regulated. This is shown by an international study led by the University College London and the universities of Bonn, Bordeaux and Milton Keynes (England). In ...

Neuroscience

Thicker nerve fibers enable faster reactions in mice

In order for organisms to react swiftly to stimuli in their environment, they need rapid and precise transmission of nerve impulses along neural extensions known as axons. Whereas some invertebrates have developed very thick ...

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