News Neuroscience

Brain’s physical structure may help guide its wiring

Stiffness, softness determine if nerve cells’ axons take straight or meandering path

Axons

MAKING CONNECTIONS  Axons (grayish-white strands, center) that form a signal-sending pathway in the visual system grow toward their destination in an embryonic frog brain. 

Eva Pillai

By Laura Sanders

- More than 2 years ago

In growing brains, billions of nerve cells must make trillions of precise connections. As they snake through the brain, nerve cell tendrils called axons use the brain’s stiffness to guide them on their challenging journey, a study of frog nerve cells suggests.