Efficient technique enables thinking
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 14:42
in Biology & Nature
(PhysOrg.com) -- Nerve cells constantly create new contact points to their neighbouring cells. This is how the basic structure of our brain develops. In adults, new contact makes learning and memory possible. However, not all contact between cells is useful - most of it is dismantled again very quickly. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology in Martinsried near Munich have now described a completely new technique with which nerve cells can evaluate the quality of the cells they contact in a very time- and energy-saving way. (Neuron, July 31, 2008)