Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have successfully used a laser-assisted imaging tool to “see” what happens in brain cells of mice learning to reach out and grab a pellet of food. Their experiments, they say, add to evidence that such motor-based learning can occur in multiple areas of the brain, even ones not typically associated with motor control. The research team focused on AMPA-type glutamate receptors, or AMPARs, key molecules that help send messages between brain cells called neurons. #AMPARs function like antennas that form along the surface of a particular spot on neurons called a synapse, where it receives molecular signals from other neurons. Scientists have ways to directly view the brain during learning, recording thousands of synapses at a time. The movie shows AMPA receptors in green on neurons in magenta at one time point in a live mouse. #JohnsHopkinsResearch Credit: Richard Roth and Richard Huganir DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.12.005