Neuronal Glutamatergic Synaptic Clefts Alkalinize Rather Than Acidify during Neurotransmission

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by Lynda F. Rysavy | Monday, Mar 09, 2020

Gregory Macleod, an associate professor of biology in FAU’s Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College and the College of Science, and collaborators, used fluorescent reporters to investigate the acid/base balance in between nerve cells as they communicate with each other.

Researchers discovered that contrary to expectations, the cleft between nerve cells alkalinizes, which has profound implications for the way in which the brain makes computations.

Results of the study were recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience. The research is funded by a five-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant awarded to McLeod.

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