Press Release No. 5
Berlin
What Makes Axons Branch in the Brain Forest?
Proper functioning of the nervous system is based on the correct wiring of nerve cells. A single neuron in our brain is connected to other neurons by as many as 10,000 contacts. The pattern of this neural network is laid down during embryonic and early postnatal development, when neurons send out an axon that extends – often over considerable distances – into the target areas. By a process called axonal branching an individual neuron can establish connections to several target regions in the brain, thus providing the structural basis for the simultaneous processing of individual pieces of information. Now neurobiologists in the research group led by Professor Fritz G. Rathjen have gained new insight into this important process (Journal of Neuroscience, doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4183-13.2014)*.