YU and coworkers proved the important role played by electrical synapses in the development of cerebral cortex neural circuits by changing the electrical synaptic connections between excitatory neurons, providing an important clue for translating the electrical synaptic connections to chemical connections.

To study the impact of electrical synapses on the development of chemical synapses, YU and coworkers selectively blocked the connections of sister neuron electrical synapses, using molecular biological techniques. They found that the blockade of the electrical connection impairs the subsequent formation of specific chemical synapses between sister excitatory neurons, though the chemical synaptic connections between non-sister neurons were not affected.

The finding suggests that the development of cerebral cortex neural circuits follows a rule, and there is a strong link between lineage-dependent transient electrical coupling and the assembly of precise excitatory neuron microcircuits in the neocortex.