Neuronal Nets

Pictured is a mouse brain cell (pale blue) surrounded by a perineuronal net (red). The cell comes from the hippocampus – a region of the brain associated with memory formation. Research indicates that the formation of such nets on hippocampal neurons coincides with a period when young mammals, including humans, start to reinforce neuronal connections and develop episodic memories – memories tied to a specific context. Prior to this stage of development, memories are considered more general and less contextual. Experimentally dismantling these nets can erase context-associated fear and reward memories in older mice, while boosting net formation promotes such memories in mice ordinarily too young to develop them. Importantly, since perineuronal nets are thought to be altered in neurological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, epilepsy and schizophrenia, manipulating their formation and function could be a route to clinical intervention in such conditions.

Written by Ruth Williams

Ruth Williams

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Ruth is a freelance science journalist based in the US. She's a regular correspondent for The Scientist, and her work has appeared in The Lancet, Nature, Scientific American Mind, BBC Focus and elsewhere. Twitter @rooph

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• Image from work by Adam I. Ramsaran and colleagues
• Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Image copyright held by the original authors
• Research published in Science, May 2023