How neurons talk to their neighbours
Professor Na Yu models the biology behind neuronal signalling
You probably don鈥檛 think of yourself as a collection of almost 100 billion neurons鈥攂ut without those neurons, there鈥檚 no 鈥測ou.鈥� Those neurons, or nerve cells, don鈥檛 just sit around; for your brain and nervous system to function, they have to communicate with one another. Think of an old-fashioned 鈥渂ucket brigade鈥� in which one firefighter passes a bucket of water to an adjacent person, and they pass it to the next person, and so on. Now think of the neurons in your brain as tiny firefighters, each trying to pass an electrical signal along to a neighbour. How, exactly, are those signals transmitted? 鈥淲e want to learn how the neurons talk to each other,鈥� says Na Yu, a Professor in the Department of Mathematics.
Yu, an expert in mathematical biology, uses the tools of mathematics to model the biological processes behind neuronal signalling. She鈥檚 particularly interested in the role of 鈥渘oise.鈥� Yu uses the term the way an electrical engineer might use it鈥攖hink of the background static that makes it hard to tune in to a weak AM station on your radio. But there鈥檚 a crucial difference: To an engineer, noise is an obstacle to be overcome; but in a network of neurons, noise can actually boost signal transmission. This is particularly evident in a signalling process called 鈥渟ynchronization,鈥� in which one neuron鈥檚 activity matches up with that of its neighbour. 鈥淣oise has been shown to help to promote this synchronization, and therefore promote signal transmission,鈥� says Yu.
Yu鈥檚 research could shed light on some of the most challenging problems in health and medicine, including the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson鈥檚 and Huntington鈥檚 diseases.
Fun fact: The human brain consists of about 86 billion neurons, and the number of connections between neurons may be as high as 1 quadrillion (1,000 trillion).