Total Number of Synapses in the Adult Human Neocortex

The brain is composed of glial cells and neurons where synapses form connections between neurons and other cells. Since synapses are very small, so either a light or electron microscope is required to see them. Unlike other mammals, synapses in the human brain deteriorate rapidly upon death making them difficult to study. This project constructs a simple model for the number of synapses in the human neocortex by age and sex based on the amount of neurons. This hypothetical model can also be used to study the impact of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia that are marked by a decreased number of synaptic connections.