Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Cellular and molecular neuroscience examines how individual neurons communicate and how those communications change over time — a property called synaptic plasticity, which underlies learning, memory, and nearly every form of adaptive brain function. Much of this work centers on the molecular machinery at synapses: the receptor proteins that detect glutamate and GABA, the structural changes in dendritic spines that accompany strengthened or weakened connections, and the supporting role of astrocytes in regulating the chemical environment around neurons. A central open question is how the NMDA receptor — a glutamate receptor that acts as a kind of coincidence detector — orchestrates long-lasting changes in synaptic strength, and how disruptions to this process contribute to conditions such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease. Researchers are actively working to understand how local molecular events at individual synapses scale up to shape the behavior of entire neuronal circuits, with the hope that this knowledge will point toward more precise pharmacological targets.

Works

226,626

Total citations

8,629,276

Keywords

Synaptic PlasticityNeurotransmissionGABAergicGlutamate ReceptorsNeuronal CircuitsAstrocyte Function