Tune in for daily updates and reactions from attendees at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

On 18 November, SFARI.org hosted a Twitter Q&A live from the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Cells modified to carry fluorescent sensors can help researchers detect the levels of various chemical messengers in the brains of living mice.

CRISPR, the genetic tool that cuts and pastes DNA, can eliminate specific proteins at the points of connection between neurons. The method, described 3 September in Neuron, could help researchers determine the role of those proteins in brain signaling.

Light-transmitting cables implanted deep in mouse brains reveal connections between brain regions that control social interactions, according to a study published 19 June in Cell.

Researchers debuted a three-dimensional model of an average synapse, the point of connection between neurons, in the 30 May issue of Science.

Prebiotics — nutrients that promote the growth of some beneficial gut bacteria — can influence brain chemistry and behavior. New findings suggest prebiotics as treatments for people with neurological disorders, say Sarkis Mazmanian and Gil Sharon.

Electrical signals generated by dendrites, the branches of neurons that receive information from neighboring cells, may help neurons tune their responses to stimuli, according to a study published 7 November in Nature.

MeCP2, the gene associated with Rett syndrome, has widely variable effects on mouse brains depending on the mutation it carries, according to unpublished results presented Tuesday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

A new candidate gene for autism, called synapsin 2, regulates chemical messenger release across the connections between neurons, reports a study published 4 September in Human Molecular Genetics.