Residents of the brain

Scientists turn up startling diversity among nerve cells

Peer out the window of a plane landing at LaGuardia Airport, and the tiny people scurrying around the streets of New York City all look the same. But take a stroll down Fifth Avenue and a new view emerges: Up close, New Yorkers are very different.

By classifying neurons based on shape and behavior, scientists may get a handle on which cells do what in the brain.