How connected are nerve cells in the brain to their nerve cell neighbors? The image shows two excitatory neurons (black) in the cerebral cortex of a mouse brain. Researchers found they are contacted by all of the nearby inhibitory neurons (green) but not the more faraway ones (purple). Images such as these help scientists learn more about how the brain is organized on a microscopic level.
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Adam M. Packer and Rafael Yuste, Dense, Unspecific Connectivity of Neocortical Parvalbumin-Positive Interneurons: A Canonical Microcircuit for Inhibition? The Journal of Neuroscience, 14 Sept. 2011, 31(37):13260-13271.
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