An ongoing project aims to understand how brain cells regulate their outgoing

signals. The lab’s research specifically focuses on a brain structure called the
thalamus and its connections — via nerve cells — to the cortex.

Pulses of electricity race down a neuron’s primary output cable, known as its axon,
and send messages out to neighboring cells. In the past, these signals have been
thought to be as reliable as mailmen or women — able to deliver information from
one cell to the next rain or shine. But Huguenard’s lab has found that, as with snail
mail, not every message reaches its destination.