Neurons growing in line
Thursday, April 15, 2010 - 09:14
in Biology & Nature
Brain researchers have developed a novel method to grow cultured neurons in order to investigate basic mechanisms of memory. They grew two separate populations of neurons in microfluidic platforms. These neurons extended their processes through tiny grooves, to meet each other and form synaptic connections. Perpendicular to the grooves, a perfusion channel was constructed that allows the researchers to manipulate very small populations of synapses with drugs or neurotransmitters.