Synapse formation

Most brain neurons develop before birth, but the brain continues to mature long after that, with the neurons making and breaking an astonishing number of connections, called synapses. The neurons seen in this video were isolated from the cortex of a newborn mouse and grown in a dish where they were imaged every 30 minutes between days six and eight after birth. The slender cellular projections called axons (red) are seeking the branchlike dendrites (green) of neighboring neurons, in order to form connections. CREDIT: A. KIMBERLEY MCALLISTER/SCOTT CAMERON