A group of local scientists say they have discovered a new protein that triggers the production of chemical synapses in the brain.

Led by Professor Kim Eun-joon, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Monday that their research showed that when connected with netrin-G, the new protein, dubbed NGL, plays a vital role in producing synapses in the brain.

Kim’s team is hoping that their discovery will contribute to treating a variety of brain conditions, including schizophrenia.

The team’s findings will be published in the September edition of the world-renowned science journal Nature NeuroScience.

The human brain contains a huge number of chemical synapses, with young children having about one quadrillion. This number declines with age, stabilizing by adulthood.

Synapses are crucial to the biological computations that are the foundations of perception and thought. They also provide the means through which the nervous system connects to and controls the other systems of the body.