Efficient technique enables thinking

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Constantly-changing contact between cells makes thought possible. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology have now explained why this process does not take hours. Image: Max Planck Institute for NeurobiologyLohmann
Constantly-changing contact between cells makes thought possible. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology have now explained why this process does not take hours. Image: Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology/Lohmann
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Nerve cells constantly create new contact points to their neighbouring cells. This is how the basic structure of our brain develops. In adults, new contact makes learning and memory possible. However, not all contact between cells is useful - most of it is dismantled again very quickly. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology in Martinsried near Munich have now described a completely new technique with which nerve cells can evaluate the quality of the cells they contact in a very time- and energy-saving way. (Neuron, July 31, 2008)


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