Protein kinases are key regulators of excitatory synapse plasticity. In this issue, using novel optical reporters of protein kinase C (PKC) activity, Colgan et al. identify PKCα as critical for ...

A protein that appears in postsynaptic protein agglomerations has been found to be crucial to their formation. The Kobe University discovery identifies a new key player for synaptic function and sheds ...

Endogenous cannabinoids, also known as endocannabinoids, are neurotransmitters (i.e., chemical messengers naturally produced by the body) that transmit specific signals from one neuron to another.

A research group led by Specially appointed professor, Dr. Tatsuo Suzuki of Shinshu University School of Medicine developed a new purification protocol for Postsynaptic density (PSD) lattice, a core ...

Neurons send signals to each other across small junctions called synapses. Some of these signals involve the flow of potassium, calcium and sodium ions through channel proteins that are embedded ...

Long-term depression (LTD) between cortical layer 4 spiny stellate cells and layer 2/3 pyramidal cells requires the activation of NMDA receptors (NMDARs). In young rodents, this form of LTD has been ...

At 15 years old, Sammy considered himself an expert on cannabis. When I asked what he knew about how marijuana interacts with the brain, he confidently explained, “THC activates cannabinoid receptors ...

Synaptic plasticity describes the biological process that enables learning and memory through facilitating changes in the connections between synapses. Interaction with the external world results in ...

(1) A nerve impulse arrives. (2) This causes calcium ion channels to open, resulting in an influx of calcium ions in the terminal. (3) This causes synaptic vesicles to fuse with the terminal membrane, ...