Using a new cell model, researchers can for the first time study how hepatitis E viruses affect nerve cells.

Hepatitis E viruses (HEV) typically cause liver infections. They can, however, also infect other organs and cause neurological disorders. Little is yet known about how this process works.

Wiring diagram lays out connections between nearly 140,000 neurons and reveals new types of nerve cell.

Researchers have built a nerve cell “connectivity map” of a larval fruit fly brain. It’s the most complex whole brain wiring diagram yet made.

The activated immune cells primarily attack excitatory synapses, which are responsible for activating other nerve cells. As a consequence, the level of activity in neural networks decreases.