Axons Crosstalk; Rewrite the Textbooks!

[TECH NEWS]

Neurons are complicated, but the basic functional concept is that synapses transmit electrical signals to the dendrites and cell body (input), and axons carry signals away (output). In one of many surprise findings, Northwestern University scientists have discovered that axons can operate in reverse: they can send signals to the cell body, too. It also turns out axons can talk to each other. Before sending signals in reverse, axons can perform their own neural computations without any involvement from the cell body or dendrites. Unlike the computations performed in dendrites, the computations occurring in axons are thousands of times slower. A deeper understanding of how a normal neuron works is critical to scientists who study neurological diseases, such as epilepsy, autism, Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. The findings are published in the February issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. “We have discovered a number of things fundamental to how neurons work that are contrary to the information you find in neuroscience textbooks,” said Nelson Spruston, senior author of the paper and professor of neurobiology and physiology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.

2/17/11, Northwestern University