It all begins in the brain as a flood, tens of millions of neurotransmitters handed off from one neuron to another in just a fraction of a second. Stubborn walls that enclose our neurons keep out the signal flow of one cell to another needed for brain activity. Chemists call this gatekeeper of our thoughts an ion channel, which takes a key in the form of a chemical neurotransmitter, unlocking the channel and opening it. The discovery of how ion channels work earned chemist Roderick MacKinnon the Nobel Prize in 2003. Now scientists are making new discoveries of the inner workings of ion channels that function as brain receptors. To read further, please visit http://qualcomm.com/.