Synapse

The Adult Brain Neurons Can Remodel Connections Elly Nedivi, an Associate Professor of Neurobiology at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, with the help of her colleagues, discovered that a certain type of brain cell can remodel lost connections, or neural pathways. Previously, researchers had found large-scale changes in dendrite-length, but more importantly, they found that this dendrite growth was limited to a specific type of cell: the interneuron. The cortical neurons they studied

The spinal cord in partnership with the brain sends information around the body by electrical signals. It informs the body exactly what it is the brain requires, the brain then interprets what the body is feeling. The spinal cord in conjunction with the brain makes up the CNS. A cylinder of nerve tissue which resembles a thick cream coloured rope about the thickness of the little finger with a length of approximately 38/45 centimetres stretches these distance to where it joins the medulla oblongata

In our brain we have neurons that communicate every second of the day with one other through their dendrite and axons. Most of the time incoming signals are received in the dendrites and outgoing signals travel down the axon to the nerve terminal. For the neuron to receive the rapid communication due to the long axon, the neuron sends electrical signals, from the cell’s body to the nerve terminal. This process is known as nerve impulses, or action potential. “Brain neurons can transmit signals using

INTRODUCTION In neural signaling, axons transmit trains of action potentials from soma to dendrites, where synaptic transmission takes place. Until a decade ago it was thought that axonal trunk doesn’t play any important role in neural communication except conducting spikes faithfully. However, it has become clear that because of the existence of many voltage- and ligand-gated ion channels in the non-synaptic areas of axons, different neuromodulators, especially monoamines, may have some effects

1. Background and Significance: Synapse formation and modulation of synaptic activity require the expression of new proteins in the cell body and locally at the synapse1-4. How proteins and mRNAs are transported to the synapse and how this process is regulated for memory storage is poorly understood. Molecular motor proteins such as kinesins, dyneins and myosins mediate the active transport of gene products5-7. Kinesins and dyneins move along microtubules whereas myosins move along actin. Importantly

neuron is able to send an electrical signal through the body of the cell and then convert that electrical impulse into a chemical signal by stimulating neurotransmitters, chemical messengers, to cross a physical gap, the synapse, between adjacent neurons. Once they cross the synapse, these neurotransmitters bind to a receptor of other neurons and stimulate a further cascade of reactions that result in the repetition of the prior process. The neuron is made up of four main parts: the

Development Award from NSF is one of the most prestigious awards for the early career scientists. This award will support my research to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying synapse specific long-term memory storage. Specifically, I will investigate the role of kinesin mediated transport of RNAs in establishing synapse specific plasticity and synaptic tagging using the sensory-motor neuron connections of Aplysia gill withdrawal reflex. I am requesting you to kindly recommend for a waiver of

dysfunction and we are actively trying to develop novel therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease. Bella is involved in a project that is aimed at elucidating the molecular underpinnings of the establishment and maintenance of excitatory and inhibitory synapses. The molecular mechanisms underlying this process remain elusive. Bella’s goal is to determine whether a specific family of molecular motor proteins, kinesins, plays a critical role in this process. There are about 40 different kinesins and she

learn from previous experiences, and remember these experiences. It is able to do this because, as and when it is stimulated by new inputs, synaptic connections within the brain change (shift, appear, disappear) and efficacies (weights) of existing synapses also change to effectively remember these inputs and experiences. Learning refers to the ability of neural networks to adapt to new inputs and experiences, changing over time, to respond better to new inputs. Plasticity refers to the fact that network

Aplysia has also been shown to be important in Drosophila and the mouse [5]. Therefore, it is expected that contributions of the proposed studies on aging will be conserved in mammals. (2) Because of two main reasons studying aging using defined synapses is critical for identifying specific cellular and molecular mechanisms of aging associated memory decline. First, studies using populations of neurons will dilute the specific changes