An enhanced buildup of [Ca 2+ ]i occurs during short-term facilitation (STF) at the crayfish neuromuscular junction (NMJ). As a model system, this NMJ allows discrete postsynaptic quantal events to be counted and characterized in relation to STF. Providing 10 pulses, at 20 and 40Hz, we monitored postsynaptic quantal events over a discrete region of a nerve terminal with a focal macropatch elect...

Multiple types of high-voltage-activated Ca(2+) channels trigger neurotransmitter release at the mammalian central synapse. Among them, the omega-conotoxin GVIA-sensitive N-type channels and the omega-Aga-IVA-sensitive P/Q-type channels mediate fast synaptic transmission. However, at most central synapses, it is not known whether the contributions of different Ca(2+) channel types to synaptic t...

1. The heartbeat central pattern-generating network of the medicinal leech contains elemental neural oscillators, comprising reciprocally inhibitory pairs of segmental heart interneurons, that use graded as well as spike-mediated synaptic transmission. We are in the process of developing a general computer model of this pattern generator. Our modeling goal is to explore the interaction of membr...

The timing of events within the nervous system is a critical feature of signal processing and integration. In neurotransmission, the synaptic latency, the time between stimulus delivery and appearance of the synaptic event, is generally thought to be directly related to the complexity of that pathway. In horizontal brain stem slices, we examined synaptic latency and its shock-to-shock variabili...

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to nicotine, the principal addictive component driving tobacco smoking. In a companion study, we found that reduced activity of the translation initiation factor eIF2α underlies the hypersensitivity of adolescent mice to the effects of cocaine. Here we report that nicotine potentiates excitatory synaptic transmission in ventral tegmental area dopaminergic...

Objective(s):Neurodegenerative Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with profound deficits in synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity. Long-term potentiation (LTP), an experimental form of synaptic plasticity, is intensively examined in hippocampus. In this study we evaluated the effect of aqueous extract of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) on induction of LTP in the CA1 area of hippoc...