What exactly makes a neuron 'fire?' How does a neuron respond to the signals it receives from other cells?

Cecile G. Tamura

The new research questions the seminal work done by French neuroscientist Louis Lapicque, whose theory on how neurons operate was first proposed in 1907. He was nominated for a Nobel Prize for his research. Despite the new findings, it remains one of the most popular models of how our brains function.
Physicist Ido Kanter – whose research spans the gamut from complexity theory and random numbers to chaotic lasers – led the new study.

 "We reached this conclusion using a new experimental setup, but in principle these results could have been discovered using technology that has existed since the 1980s. The belief that has been rooted in the scientific world for 100 years resulted in this delay of several decades,"
With neural networks inspiring future computational technology, identifying any new talents in brain cells could have some rather interesting applications.