Return to forever: Finding the origin of neural synchrony.

Synchronized spikes prevail in cortical networks, and their modulations are associated with attention, sensory processing and motor behaviors, yet it remained unclear how spikes can synchronize at the millisecond precision in a noisy network. Our new evidence shows that neurons do not easily synchronize; rather, in order to make them generate synchronous spikes, "parent" presynaptic neurons commonly shared by them are required to synchronize in advance. Therefore, the conventional style of neurophysiological research is unable to reach the true origin of synchronization.