Neurologists have uncovered a new kind of electrical signal in the outer layer of the brain that was never observed before. Scientists used the fluorescent microscopy to analyze the electrical activity and observed that cells in the cortex used not just the usual sodium ions to ‘fire’, but calcium ions as well. The study unveiled the action potential drives with the help of calcium ions, rather than sodium and calcium ions. “This is an exciting study that explores a new frontier in our understanding of neuronal function—the properties of human dendrites,” Michael Häusser, a professor of neuroscience at University College London said.
