A combination of advanced optical imaging and cryogenic electron microscopy has been used to explore membrane fusion in a synthetic system and provide new insights into neurotransmitter release.

The nematode worm C. elegans consumes familiar bacterial species more rapidly than it does novel ones, and this preference for familiarity is mediated by a pair of serotonergic neurons.

The Notch signaling pathway has a central role in the formation of the circuit that controls egg-laying in the nematode worm C. elegans.

In contrast to current models, inputs from midbrain limbic structures, but not from the hippocampus, are necessary for mammillary body contributions to memory.

Genetic studies in mice identify the transcription factor MafB as a potent regulator of specific features of the synapses underlying hearing.

The molecular mechanisms by which midbrain dopamine neurons acquire the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA for synaptic release are revealed.

Retrograde tracing of the neural circuits that control movement of the jaw and tongue reveals how shared premotor neurons help to ensure coordinated muscle activity.

The first complete 3D structures of mouse cholinergic neurons reveal the length and complexity of their axons, while calculations suggest that equivalent axons in the human brain are approximately than 100 meters long.

Animal-to-animal variability in neural circuit elements is often hidden under normal conditions, but becomes functionally relevant when the system is challenged by injury.

In nematode worms, the length of the male refractory period–the time between matings–is regulated by multiple transmitters including dopamine, which both promotes ejaculation and reduces the activity of males post-copulation.