Outline

6.1 Calcium Regulators and Environmental Sensors Evolved to Mediate Synaptic Signaling

6.2 We Can Divide Synapse Structure and Development into Three Parts

6.3 A Synapse Begins with Adhesion

• RESEARCHERS AT WORK Dendritic Spines Compete for Survival

6.4 Fragile X Syndrome Suggests There Can Be Too Much of a Good Thing

6.5 Pre- and Postsynaptic Partners Tightly Anchor One Another as a Synapse Develops

• RESEARCHERS AT WORK Presynaptic and Postsynaptic Receptors Trigger Synaptic Development

6.6 Neuromuscular Junctions Illustrate That Synapse Formation Is a Dance for Two (or More)

6.7 Motor Neuronal Agrin Promotes the Aggregation of Acetylcholine Receptors

6.8 Neuregulins Boost Local AChR Expression in Muscle and Maintain Terminal Schwann Cells

6.9 Once Formed, the NMJ Leaves an Imprint in the Extracellular Matrix

• RESEARCHERS AT WORK Neuromuscular Junctions Leave a Residue in the Basal Lamina

6.10 Ion Channels Change Subunits, and Therefore Characteristics, during Development

6.11 Embryonic Synapses Are Sluggish and Slow, Then Become Progressively Faster with Development

6.12 Myelination Extends into Adulthood to Hasten Neuronal Communication

6.13 Myelinating Glia May Prevent Regeneration in the Central Nervous System