Di Maio Vito
Institute of Applied Science and Intelligent Systems (ISASI) of CNR C/O Complesso Olivetti, Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, NA Italy.
Cogn Neurodyn. 2021 Oct;15(5):757-781. doi: 10.1007/s11571-021-09679-w. Epub 2021 May 7.
Being the most abundant synaptic type, the glutamatergic synapse is responsible for the larger part of the brain's information processing. Despite the conceptual simplicity of the basic mechanism of synaptic transmission, the glutamatergic synapse shows a large variation in the response to the presynaptic release of the neurotransmitter. This variability is observed not only among different synapses but also in the same single synapse. The synaptic response variability is due to several mechanisms of control of the information transferred among the neurons and suggests that the glutamatergic synapse is not a simple bridge for the transfer of information but plays an important role in its elaboration and management. The control of the synaptic information is operated at pre, post, and extrasynaptic sites in a sort of cooperation between the pre and postsynaptic neurons which also involves the activity of other neurons. The interaction between the different mechanisms of control is extremely complicated and its complete functionality is far from being fully understood. The present review, although not exhaustively, is intended to outline the most important of these mechanisms and their complexity, the understanding of which will be among the most intriguing challenges of future neuroscience.
作为最丰富的突触类型，谷氨酸能突触负责大脑大部分的信息处理。尽管突触传递的基本机制在概念上很简单，但谷氨酸能突触对神经递质突触前释放的反应却有很大差异。这种变异性不仅在不同突触之间存在，而且在同一个单突触中也能观察到。突触反应的变异性归因于几种控制神经元间信息传递的机制，这表明谷氨酸能突触并非简单的信息传递桥梁，而是在信息的加工和管理中发挥着重要作用。突触信息的控制在突触前、突触后和突触外位点进行，这是一种突触前和突触后神经元之间的协作，其中还涉及其他神经元的活动。不同控制机制之间的相互作用极其复杂，其完整功能远未被完全理解。本综述虽不详尽，但旨在概述其中最重要的机制及其复杂性，对其的理解将是未来神经科学最具吸引力的挑战之一。
