I have developed "tennis elbow" from lugging this book around the past four weeks, but it is worth the pain, the effort, and the aspirin. It is also worth the (relatively speaking) bargain price. Including appendixes, this book contains 894 pages of text. The entire panorama of the neural sciences is surveyed and examined, and it is comprehensive in its scope, from genomes to social behaviors. The editors explicitly state that the book is designed as "an introductory text for students of biology, behavior, and medicine," but it is hard to imagine any audience, interested in any fragment of neuroscience at any level of sophistication, that would not enjoy this book. The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or

Principles of Neural Science

▪ Abstract Synaptic transmission is a dynamic process. Postsynaptic responses wax and wane as presynaptic activity evolves. This prominent characteristic of chemical synaptic transmission is a crucial determinant of the response properties of synapses and, in turn, of the stimulus properties selected by neural networks and of the patterns of activity generated by those networks. This review focuses on synaptic changes that result from prior activity in the synapse under study, and is restricted to short-term effects that last for at most a few minutes. Forms of synaptic enhancement, such as facilitation, augmentation, and post-tetanic potentiation, are usually attributed to effects of a residual elevation in presynaptic [Ca2+]i, acting on one or more molecular targets that appear to be distinct from the secretory trigger responsible for fast exocytosis and phasic release of transmitter to single action potentials. We discuss the evidence for this hypothesis, and the origins of the different kinetic phases...

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Short-Term Synaptic Plasticity

The ionotropic glutamate receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate the vast majority of excitatory neurotransmission in the brain. The cloning of cDNAs encoding glutamate receptor subunits, which occurred mainly between 1989 and 1992 ([Hollmann and Heinemann, 1994][1]), stimulated this

/pdf/the-glutamate-receptor-ion-channels-560mntczdb.pdf

The glutamate receptor ion channels

The mammalian ionotropic glutamate receptor family encodes 18 gene products that coassemble to form ligand-gated ion channels containing an agonist recognition site, a transmembrane ion permeation pathway, and gating elements that couple agonist-induced conformational changes to the opening or closing of the permeation pore. Glutamate receptors mediate fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system and are localized on neuronal and non-neuronal cells. These receptors regulate a broad spectrum of processes in the brain, spinal cord, retina, and peripheral nervous system. Glutamate receptors are postulated to play important roles in numerous neurological diseases and have attracted intense scrutiny. The description of glutamate receptor structure, including its transmembrane elements, reveals a complex assembly of multiple semiautonomous extracellular domains linked to a pore-forming element with striking resemblance to an inverted potassium channel. In this review we discuss International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology glutamate receptor nomenclature, structure, assembly, accessory subunits, interacting proteins, gene expression and translation, post-translational modifications, agonist and antagonist pharmacology, allosteric modulation, mechanisms of gating and permeation, roles in normal physiological function, as well as the potential therapeutic use of pharmacological agents acting at glutamate receptors.

/pdf/glutamate-receptor-ion-channels-structure-regulation-and-148yts0p6h.pdf

Glutamate Receptor Ion Channels: Structure, Regulation, and Function

Noise — random disturbances of signals — poses a fundamental problem for information processing and affects all aspects of nervous-system function. However, the nature, amount and impact of noise in the nervous system have only recently been addressed in a quantitative manner. Experimental and computational methods have shown that multiple noise sources contribute to cellular and behavioural trial-to-trial variability. We review the sources of noise in the nervous system, from the molecular to the behavioural level, and show how noise contributes to trial-to-trial variability. We highlight how noise affects neuronal networks and the principles the nervous system applies to counter detrimental effects of noise, and briefly discuss noise's potential benefits.

/pdf/noise-in-the-nervous-system-22k10mncs2.pdf

Noise in the nervous system.

Calcium-triggered fusion of synaptic vesicles and neurotransmitter release are fundamental signalling steps in the central nervous system It is generally assumed that fast transmitter release is triggered by elevations in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) to at least 100 µM near the sites of vesicle fusion1,2,3,4,5 For synapses in the central nervous system, however, there are no experimental estimates of this local [Ca2+]i signal Here we show, by using calcium ion uncaging in the large synaptic terminals of the calyx of Held, that step-like elevations to only 10 µM [Ca2+] i induce fast transmitter release, which depletes around 80% of a pool of available vesicles in less than 3 ms Kinetic analysis of transmitter release rates after [Ca2+]i steps revealed the rate constants for calcium binding and vesicle fusion These show that transient (around 05 ms) local elevations of [Ca2+]i to peak values as low as 25 µM can account for transmitter release during single presynaptic action potentials The calcium sensors for vesicle fusion are far from saturation at normal release probability This non-saturation, and the high intracellular calcium cooperativity in triggering vesicle fusion, make fast synaptic transmission very sensitive to modulation by changes in local [Ca2+]i

/pdf/intracellular-calcium-dependence-of-transmitter-release-4865l7v04o.pdf

Intracellular calcium dependence of transmitter release rates at a fast central synapse

https://pure.mpg.de/pubman/item/item_600640_5/component/file_2255747/600640.pdf

Ralf Schneggenburger

Papers

Intracellular calcium dependence of transmitter release rates at a fast central synapse

Released Fraction and Total Size of a Pool of Immediately Available Transmitter Quanta at a Calyx Synapse

Vesicle pools and short-term synaptic depression: lessons from a large synapse

RIM Determines Ca2+ Channel Density and Vesicle Docking at the Presynaptic Active Zone

Presynaptic calcium and control of vesicle fusion