Synaptic pruning is a crucial neurodevelopmental process through which the brain refines its neural circuitry by systematically eliminating excess or weak synaptic connections. During early childhood ...

Synaptic pruning is a little like sleep. We know both processes are important to healthy brain function, but we don't know exactly how they happen, nor how to reliably treat problems in the system.

Research led by SUNY Downstate Medical Center has identified a brain receptor that appears to initiate adolescent synaptic pruning, a process believed necessary for learning, but one that appears to ...