Walmsley B
Division of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
Immunol Cell Biol. 1998 Oct;76(5):430-5. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1711.1998.00764.x.
Communication between neurones in the central nervous system occurs at specialized synaptic contacts. The strength of a synaptic signal is precisely regulated, and modification of synaptic strength is important in complex brain functions such as learning, and in the formation of appropriate neural maps during development. The fundamental building block of synaptic signalling is the post-synaptic current generated in response to the pre-synaptic release of a quantum of neurotransmitter. The present short review examines the factors that determine the quantal post-synaptic current, and provides direct evidence from a recent study in the author's laboratory that regulation of quantal size is important during development of excitatory transmission in the auditory system.
中枢神经系统中神经元之间的通讯发生在特殊的突触连接处。突触信号的强度受到精确调控，而突触强度的改变在诸如学习等复杂脑功能以及发育过程中适当神经图谱的形成方面都很重要。突触信号传递的基本组成部分是突触后电流，它是由突触前释放的一个量子的神经递质所引发的。本简短综述探讨了决定量子化突触后电流的因素，并提供了作者实验室近期一项研究的直接证据，即量子大小的调控在听觉系统兴奋性传递的发育过程中很重要。
