Journal reference: Kaizuka, T., et al. (2024) FAM81A is a postsynaptic protein that regulates the condensation of postsynaptic proteins via liquid–liquid phase separation.

Summary: New research uncovers how tau pathology spreads and damages synapses in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Using ...

University of Pittsburgh image: A) Two-photon image of a basal dendrite of L2/3 neuron loaded with Alexa 594. In this example, the spine is ~40 μm below the surface of the slice. Scale bar, 2 μm.

Neurons communicate through a process called synaptic transmission, where one neuron releases chemical messengers called neurotransmitters from a presynaptic terminal. These molecules travel ...

Then, using array tomography, the researchers reconstructed 1.3 million pre- and postsynaptic pairs of excitatory neurons. This high-resolution technique stacks two-dimensional images to create ...

Neurotransmitter molecules cross the synaptic cleft and bind to receptors known as ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs) and G-protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) on the postsynaptic neuron.

Pinpointing where memories are stored in the brain and how they are transmitted could provide new targets to treat neurological diseases and serve as models for neuromorphic computing.