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synaptic pruning

This image shows a draeing of a brain made up of interconnecting lines to represent a network.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 17, 2015·4 min read

Algorithms Based on Brains Make For Better Networks

Researchers take inspiration from the developing brain to create improved computer algorithms.

Autism Featured Genetics Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·April 15, 2020·5 min read

Autism in males linked to defect in brain immune cells and microglia

An over-production of eIF4E impairs microglial cells, hampering their ability to effectively prune synapses and leading to autism-like behaviors in male mouse models of ASD.

Featured Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·January 2, 2017·10 min read

Babies Exposed to Stimulation Get a Brain Boost

Contrary to popular belief, exposing children to stimuli early can help to boost their development, researchers report.

Image shows the brain regions affected by pregnancy.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 19, 2016·4 min read

Baby Brain: Pregnancy Brain Changes Last 2 Years After Birth

Study reports significant reduction in gray matter volume in brain regions associated with social cognition for up to two years following birth.

This shows a teenage girl with flowers in her hair

Featured Neuroscience

·September 25, 2019·5 min read

Brain anatomy changes with maturation to adolescence

White matter tracts show increasing maturation with age from the back to the front of the brain. The maturations begin as a child reaches 9-12 years of age. The maturity correlates with a critical and formative period of development.

Featured Genetics Neurology Neuroscience Psychology

·April 17, 2018·2 min read

Brain Development Influenced by Immune System

A new study provides further evidence for immune system activation during pregnancy and disruptions in brain development. Many adult diseases, researchers say, may originate during fetal development.

Electrophysiology Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·February 3, 2017·4 min read

Brain Plasticity: How Adult Born Neurons Get Wired

Researchers report adult neurogenesis not only helps increase the number of cells in a neural network, it also promotes plasticity in the existing network. Additionally, they have identified the role the Bax gene plays in synaptic pruning.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·January 4, 2018·3 min read

Brain’s Immune System May Be Key to Better Treatments for Psychiatric Disorders

Researchers investigate how synaptic pruning occurs during development in hopes of discovering how neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders occur.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 16, 2016·4 min read

C. elegans Study Reveals How Differences in Male and Female Brains Emerge

Researchers have identified how sexually dimorphic connections arise in the nervous systems of nematode worms.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·March 26, 2018·3 min read

Captured on Film For the First Time: Microglia Nibbling on Synapses

A new electronic microscopy study has captured microglia perform their role in synaptic pruning.

This image is a neuron from the brain of a young person with autism.

Autism Electrophysiology Featured

·August 21, 2014·5 min read

Children with Autism Have Extra Synapses in Brain

According to a new study, children with autism have an excess of synapses in the brain, due to a slowdown of the normal pruning process during development.