Promote One, Inhibit the Other: A Single Pathway Controls Axon and Dendrite Growth, Oppositely
A functioning neuron (symbolized here as a tree) has both dendritic arbors to receive signals and axonal branches to send them.
The activity of a single molecular pathway (shown as the orange slope) determines whether a neuron grows more dendrites and fewer axons (left tree) or more axons and fewer dendrites (right tree). Image credit: Xin Wang.