Growth Factors Sculpt the Synapse

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Abstract
The brain's ability to learn and remember is at least partly due to the changing strength of its cell-to-cell connections, the synapses. Growth factors, previously thought to confine their action on synapses to the developing organism, can also change synaptic strength in the adult; an example in the invertebrate Aplysia is reported by Zhang et al . on p. 1318 of this issue. In her Perspective, Schuman discusses how these new results add to what is known about the actions of growth factors in the adult and developing brain.