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 ...

To think, feel, talk and move, neurons send messages through electrical signals in the brain and spinal cord. This intricate ...

Striking electron microscope pictures from inside the brains of mice suggest what happens in our own brain every day: Our synapses - the junctions between nerve cells - grow strong and large during ...

How do we think, feel, remember, or move? These processes involve synaptic transmission, in which chemical signals are transmitted between nerve cells using molecular containers called vesicles. Now, ...

As we age, we begin to lose the connections that wire up our brains-and neuroscientists aren't sure why.

Scientists have discovered that the adolescent brain does more than prune old connections. During the teen years, it actively builds dense new clusters of synapses in specific parts of neurons. These ...

Alzheimer’s may destroy memory by flipping a single molecular switch that tells neurons to prune their own connections. Researchers found that both amyloid beta and inflammation converge on the same ...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has emerged as a key player in the activation of silent synapses. This protein, which some view as "Miracle-Gro for the brain," plays a pivotal role in ...