Editing Neuroscience (section)

===Molecular and cellular neuroscience===
{{main|Molecular neuroscience|Cellular neuroscience}}[[Image:neuron colored.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Photograph of a [[staining|stained neuron]] in a chicken embryo]]

Basic questions addressed in [[molecular neuroscience]] include the mechanisms by which neurons express and respond to molecular signals and how [[axon]]s form complex connectivity patterns. At this level, tools from [[molecular biology]] and [[genetics]] are used to understand how neurons develop and how genetic changes affect biological functions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://neuroscience.ucsb.edu/research/molecular-and-cellular-neuroscience |title=Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience &#124; UCSB Neuroscience &#124; UC Santa Barbara |publisher=Neuroscience.ucsb.edu |access-date=2022-08-03}}</ref> The [[morphology (biology)|morphology]], molecular identity, and physiological characteristics of neurons and how they relate to different types of behavior are also of considerable interest.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/C2011-0-07251-4 |title=From Molecules to Networks |date=2014 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-12-397179-1 |editor1-first=John H. |editor1-last=Byrne |editor2-first=Ruth |editor2-last=Heidelberger |editor3-first=M. Neal |editor3-last=Waxham }}{{pn|date=March 2025}}</ref>

Questions addressed in [[cellular neuroscience]] include the mechanisms of how neurons process [[cell signaling|signals]] physiologically and electrochemically. These questions include how signals are processed by neurites and somas and how [[neurotransmitter]]s and electrical signals are used to process information in a neuron. Neurites are thin extensions from a neuronal [[Perikaryon|cell body]], consisting of [[dendrite]]s (specialized to receive synaptic inputs from other neurons) and [[axon]]s (specialized to conduct nerve impulses called [[action potential]]s). Somas are the cell bodies of the neurons and contain the nucleus.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Flynn |first1=Kevin C |title=The cytoskeleton and neurite initiation |journal=BioArchitecture |date=July 2013 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=86–109 |doi=10.4161/bioa.26259 |pmid=24002528 |pmc=4201609 }}</ref>

Another major area of cellular neuroscience is the investigation of the [[development of the nervous system]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alberts |first1=Bruce |last2=Johnson |first2=Alexander |last3=Lewis |first3=Julian |last4=Raff |first4=Martin |last5=Roberts |first5=Keith |last6=Walter |first6=Peter |title=Molecular Biology of the Cell |date=2002 |publisher=Garland Science |location=New York |isbn=9780815332183 |edition=4 |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26814/ |access-date=7 August 2023 |chapter=Neural Development}}</ref> Questions include the [[Regional specification|patterning and regionalization]] of the nervous system, axonal and dendritic development, [[Growth factor|trophic interactions]], [[Synaptogenesis|synapse formation]] and the implication of [[fractone]]s in [[neural stem cell]]s,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nascimento |first1=Marcos Assis |last2=Sorokin |first2=Lydia |last3=Coelho-Sampaio |first3=Tatiana |date=2018-04-18 |title=Fractone Bulbs Derive from Ependymal Cells and Their Laminin Composition Influence the Stem Cell Niche in the Subventricular Zone |url=https://www.jneurosci.org/content/38/16/3880 |journal=Journal of Neuroscience |language=en |volume=38 |issue=16 |pages=3880–3889 |doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3064-17.2018 |issn=0270-6474 |pmc=6705924 |pmid=29530987}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mercier |first=Frederic |date=2016 |title=Fractones: extracellular matrix niche controlling stem cell fate and growth factor activity in the brain in health and disease |journal=Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences |language=en |volume=73 |issue=24 |pages=4661–4674 |doi=10.1007/s00018-016-2314-y |pmid=27475964 |pmc=11108427 |s2cid=28119663 |issn=1420-682X}}</ref> [[Cellular differentiation|differentiation]] of neurons and glia ([[neurogenesis]] and [[gliogenesis]]), and [[neuronal migration]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mercier |first1=Frederic |last2=Arikawa-Hirasawa |first2=Eri |date=2012 |title=Heparan sulfate niche for cell proliferation in the adult brain |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0304394011016685 |journal=Neuroscience Letters |language=en |volume=510 |issue=2 |pages=67–72 |doi=10.1016/j.neulet.2011.12.046|pmid=22230891 |s2cid=27352770 }}</ref>

[[Computational neurogenetic modeling]] is concerned with the development of dynamic neuronal models for modeling brain functions with respect to genes and dynamic interactions between genes, on the cellular level (Computational Neurogenetic Modeling (CNGM) can also be used to model neural systems).<ref>{{cite web |title=Neuroscience Research Areas |url=https://med.nyu.edu/departments-institutes/neuroscience/research/research-areas |website=NYU Grossman School of Medicine |publisher=NYU Langone Health Neuroscience Institute |access-date=7 August 2023}}</ref>