University of Michigan Researchers Study How Brain Cells Connect Early in Life

In a new paper, a team at the University of Michigan Medical School assesses how neurons stay connected with other cells while allowing inefficient synapses to lapse. How and why does this happen? What happens when this process doesn’t go normally? “For the brain to be really functional, we need to keep the most active and most efficient connections,” says the study’s senior author. “So, during development it’s crucial to establish efficient connections, and to eliminate inactive ones. We have identified a key molecular mechanism that the brain uses to stabilize and maturate the most active connections.” The findings of this study may lead to additional research of conditions such as autism, epilepsy and intellectual dysfunction, conditions that have a basis in abnormal synapse function. Click here to read the full article.