Dr. Erwin Neher, Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Physiology 1991, spoke today at a seminar of the area of Neurosciences of the research center Applied Medicine (CIMA) of the University of Navarra. The German scientist was awarded the aforementioned award for his discoveries on the function of cell membrane ion channels in the brain (ions are atoms or groups of atoms that acquire an electrical charge due to the loss or gain of one or more electrons). He is currently studying the synapses, Structures , which are the tiny synapses that connect neurons to each other. Advances in this line would make it possible to understand the defects that cause diseases such as schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

As the brain is made up of numerous biological circuits, one question core topic is how these channels process information. To answer this question, Professor Neher studies how synaptic connections between neurons direct the flow of information through neural networks. "Despite enormous scientific advances, how the brain works is still a mystery and one of the most fascinating questions of the modern era," stated Dr. Erwin Neher.

Communication between neurons in milliseconds

Information in the neuron is normally encoded by electrical signals that travel through the neuronal membrane. In turn, chemical neurotransmitters are responsible for transmitting this information from one neuron to another. This process takes place at the synapse and occurs unidirectionally: from the presynaptic neuron to the receiving (or postsynaptic) neuron.

For years, scientists thought that the work of the synapse was reduced to transmitting simple signals from one neuron to another, but "programs of study recent work shows that synapses play an active role in information processing, modulating and redirecting the flow of information through neuronal circuits". In this regard, Dr. Erwin Neher's recent work has focused on understanding the biophysical and molecular principles that enable the synapse to perform this function. To this end, he has developed a battery of cutting-edge biophysical and molecular biology techniques that allow "studying how neurotransmitter release in the presynaptic neuron is dynamically controlled on time scales of milliseconds to seconds".