E-Mail IMAGE: A 3-D animated image showing our synapse phagocytosis reporter in mouse hippocampus. Presynapses in green, astrocytes in white, and microglia in blue. Phagocytosed presynapses by glia were shown in red.... view more Credit: KAIST Developing brains constantly sprout new neuronal connections called synapses as they learn and remember. Important connections -- the ones that are repeatedly introduced, such as how to avoid danger -- are nurtured and reinforced, while connections deemed unnecessary are pruned away. Adult brains undergo similar pruning, but it was unclear how or why synapses in the adult brain get eliminated. Now, a team of researchers based in Korea has found the mechanism underlying plasticity and, potentially, neurological disorders in adult brains. They published their findings on December 23 in