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Inhibitory GABAergic synapses on dendritic spines and shafts have a key role in the localized regulation of neuronal Ca2+signalling. In this Progress article, Higley explains how the influences of dendritic inhibition on electrical and biochemical activity in neurons shape synaptic plasticity.
Microglia are known to remove dead and dying neurons in the brain by phagocytosis. In this Progress article, Brown and Neher discuss recent evidence indicating that, in certain situations, microglia can instigate the death of viable neurons through phagocytosis, a process they term phagoptosis.
