Neuropil

These are all found in humans, with the exception of the barrel cortex, but many species have counterparts similar to our own regions of neuropil.

The concentrations of neuropil within certain regions are important to determine because simply using the proportions of the different postsynaptic elements does not verify the necessary, conclusive evidence.

"[5] It has been shown that a certain protein synaptophysin[6] is lost in people with schizophrenia that causes dendrites and spines to deteriorate in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a part of the neocortex, which plays a key role in information processing, attention, memory, orderly thinking and planning which are all functions that deteriorate in people with schizophrenia.

Researchers have tied the disease to a decrease in the expression of drebrin, a protein thought to play a role in long-term potentiation, meaning the neurons would lose plasticity and have trouble forming new connections.

Research has focused on where neuropil is found in many different species in order to unveil the range of significance it has and possible functions.

In chimpanzees and humans the neuropil provides a proxy measure of total connectivity within a local region because it is composed mostly of dendrites, axons, and synapses.

Each section has been observed in several insects as well as the influence it has on behavior, however the exact function of this neuropil has proven elusive.

These observations suggest that the central complex not only plays a role in locomotor behavior, but fine tuning as well.

[citation needed] This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 1016 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)