( ons use at different points in their li...)The synapse is a shotgun

"Although we are convinced that ectopic release exists, any time you question an accepted concept, there will be doubt and resistance," said Sejnowski. "So, we will continue to develop this new picture of the synapse to convince doubters, because this is such a different way of looking at how the synapse functions." Sejnowski said that he and his collaborators will extend their study to other types of synapses that are more complex and difficult to study.

More broadly, said Sejnowski, the new 3-D modeling technique could offer a powerful tool for understanding neurological disease, such as myasthenia gravis, a common disorder in which a defect in nerve impulse transmission results in muscle weakness. In this and other neurological diseases, "there may be an anomaly at the receptor level, but it is impossible to pinpoint the problem with existing techniques. With our modeling technique, we can explore the detailed geometry of the damaged tissue and ask how much of that anomaly is caused by the geometry itself," he said.

"Once we have pinned down where the real problem is, we can use the model as a fantastic tool for drug discovery. We can tell drug developers precisely where the anomaly is and where they should focus drug discovery efforts."