Electricity sparks neuronal diversity during brain development
Sunday, July 29, 2018 - 08:43
in Biology & Nature
To understand how neuronal circuits emerge during development, researchers investigated what enables neuronal stem cells to generate successive subtypes of neurons as the embryo grows. By measuring the electrical activity, they found that membrane voltage values increase as the embryo develops and new neurons are being created. To test the role of this electrical charge, neuroscientists experimentally manipulated progenitor voltage values, which allowed them to select which type of neuron was being born.