Murphy T H, Baraban J M, Wier W G, Blatter L A
Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.
Science. 1994 Jan 28;263(5146):529-32. doi: 10.1126/science.7904774.
As changes in synaptic strength are thought to be critical for learning and memory, it would be useful to monitor the activity of individual identified synapses on mammalian central neurons. Calcium imaging of cortical neurons grown in primary culture was used to visualize the activation of individual postsynaptic elements by miniature excitatory synaptic currents elicited by spontaneous quantal release. This approach revealed that the probability of spontaneous activity differed among synapses on the same dendrite. Furthermore, synapses that undergo changes in activity induced by glutamate or phorbol ester treatment were identified.
由于突触强度的变化被认为对学习和记忆至关重要，因此监测哺乳动物中枢神经元上单个已识别突触的活动将很有帮助。利用原代培养的皮质神经元的钙成像技术，通过自发量子释放引发的微小兴奋性突触电流来可视化单个突触后元件的激活。这种方法揭示了同一树突上的突触之间自发活动的概率存在差异。此外，还识别出了因谷氨酸或佛波酯处理而发生活动变化的突触。
