Editor's Summary
21 April 2005
Neural development
The wiring of neural circuits is modulated by early neural activity in the developing network of axons, and an understanding of the mechanism involved is one of the central questions in neurobiology. Past research addressing this question has focused on the patterning of axon bundles, but now combined genetic and state-of-the-art imaging tools make it possible to follow axon growth of individual neurons in live animals. The observations show that activity-dependent competition between axons regulates axon growth even before any connection has been made. So axon competition acts upon axon branch formation, not just on branch stability as is commonly believed, a finding that broadens the range of potential signalling pathways contributing to neural development.
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