The elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF2K), likewise known as CaMKIII, has been demonstrated to be involved in antidepressant responses of NMDA receptor antagonists. Even so, it remains open whether direct inhibition of eEF2K without altering up-stream or other signaling pathways affects hippocampal synaptic transmission and neuronal network synchrony. Inhibition of eEF2K by the selective and poten...

The remarkably successful quantitative description of the action potential introduced by Hodgkin and Huxley (1952) is still widely used over 40 years since its introduction. The classical Hodgkin-Huxley description was not only accurate, it was also readily extensible to many other voltage-dependent currents. More recent single channel recording techniques (Sakmann and Neher, 1995) have been us...

Excitatory glutamatergic transmission involves a variety of different receptor types, each with distinct properties and functions. Physiological studies have identified both post- and presynaptic roles for kainate receptors, which are a subtype of the ionotropic glutamate receptors. Kainate receptors contribute to excitatory postsynaptic currents in many regions of the central nervous system in...

At excitatory synapses, decreases in cleft [Ca] arising from activity-dependent transmembrane Ca flux reduce the probability of subsequent transmitter release. Intense neural activity, induced by physiological and pathological stimuli, disturb the external microenvironment reducing extracellular [Ca] ([Ca](o)) and thus may impair neurotransmission. Increases in [Ca](o) activate the extracellula...

Long-term depression (LTD) of glutamatergic and electrotonic transmission can be induced at mixed synapses between eighth nerve fibers and the goldfish Mauthner (M) cell in vivo, by pairing weak presynaptic tetani with postsynaptic inhibition. This LTD can be reversed by stronger tetani that produce long-term potentiation (LTP). Moreover, the depression is more likely to occur and tends to last...

It is clear that de novo protein synthesis has an important function in synaptic transmission and plasticity. A substantial amount of work has shown that mRNA translation in the hippocampus is spatially controlled and that dendritic protein synthesis is required for different forms of long-term synaptic plasticity. More recently, several studies have highlighted a function for protein degradati...

The medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) receives excitatory input from giant presynaptic terminals, the calyces of Held. The MNTB functions as a sign inverter giving inhibitory input to the lateral and medial superior olive, where its input is important in the generation of binaural sensitivity to cues for sound localization. Extracellular recordings from MNTB neurons show complex spike...

Stein (1965, 1967) considered a realistic model of nerve membrane potential which had jumps either up or down when excitatory or inhibitory synaptic events occurred and which at other times decayed exponentially to the resting level. In view of the “quantal” nature of synaptic transmission it is probably best to present Stein’s model in its general form with a discrete distribution of post-syna...

Endocannabinoids and their receptor CB1 play key roles in brain function. Astrocytes express CB1Rs that are activated by endocannabinoids released by neurons. However, the consequences of the endocannabinoid-mediated neuron-astrocyte signaling on synaptic transmission are unknown. We show that endocannabinoids released by hippocampal pyramidal neurons increase the probability of transmitter rel...

In this study, we have demonstrated a method to organize cells in dissociated cultures using engineered chemical clues on the culture surface and determined their connectivity patterns. Although almost all elements of the synaptic transmission machinery between neurons or between neurons and muscle fibers can be studied separately in single-cell models in dissociated cultures, the difficulty of...