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In addition to learning more about the strength of the connections between neurons, or synapses, they also broke down the cellular mechanisms behind how synapses perform these basic functions.

“Even if you could download the information that a brain holds, the trillions of synaptic connections unique to each brain ... Those synapses are constantly changing,” Shepherd said.

What's most exciting is our paper highlights the intriguing possibility that repurposing currently available cancer drugs that stabilize focal adhesions might represent a way to restore mechanical integrity at synapses.

Its insights pertain to the complex rules that govern the processes that emerge when millions of synapses undergo plasticity under in vivo conditions -- like in the living brain.

The exact molecular details of how signal processing in the mossy fiber synapses works are still unknown.