Npas4: This protein regulates the formation of inhibitory synapses between neurons.

The inhibitory activity of neurons is regulated by a particular switch. This is a protein involved in the formation and maintenance of synapses in regulating selectively switching the electrical signal between nerve cells. Its name is Npas4 and was discovered by researchers from the Children's Hospital in Boston this week to publish their study in Nature.

In particular, the protein in question is a transcription factor, that is a molecule that can activate or deactivate specific genes. Those which would be linked to Npas4 are more than 270. When the protein is produced in large quantities, we are seeing an increase in the number of inhibitory synapses on the surface of nerve cells.

But what induces the production of high levels of Npas4? According to the researchers this is a reaction to excitatory synaptic. "It is as if the same excitement triggers a program to rebalance the brain with inhibition," says Michael Greenberg, coordinator of the study, which continues: "The mice in which the protein is suppressed, in fact, have neurological problems: are anxious, hyperactive and more subject to seizures. " The discovery could help researchers in studying these disorders. Inhibition, in fact, plays an important role in brain development.