Researchers Advance Understanding of Brain's Wiring By Nadia S. Halim Brain development is an awesome feat. Over a trillion neurons make connections with thousands of target cells to create coherent circuits for vision, language, movement, and memory.
Most neurons migrate from their birthplace to their permanent home in the developing brain.
Once they find a home, some cells send growth cones to different parts of the brain, creating networks with their axons. This experiment was done on a slice of postnatal rat brain. Over the last decade researchers have uncovered the identity of key genes for neuronal guidance molecules. These molecules act by ligand-receptor interactions. Unraveling the brain's wiring mechanism is complicated by the fact that guidance molecules can have bifunctional roles.