Synaptic Function

This book consists of five sections. The first section details methods for analyzing both presynaptic and postsynaptic function and emphasizes the molecular aspects of synapses. It describes ongoing studies of neurotransmitter release, voltage- sensitive ion channels, and electronic transmission at gap junctions. The second section focuses on the growing menagerie of neurotransmitters: their catagorization into chemical families, their relation to ion channels, their modulation by second messenger systems and their role in pharmacologic action. The third section considers the important relationship of transmitter diversity and synaptic types to the behavior of actual cellular networks. All of the studies described in these sections point to the necessity of considering interactions between anatomy, chemistry, physiology and pharmacology if synaptic function is to be understood at any one of these levels of analysis. The central role of synapses in learning and memory is the subject of the fourth section of the book.
The authors discuss various fundamental cellular and molecular processes - from long-term potentiation and depression to allosteric changes in receptors - that allow changes in synaptic efficacy to be reflected in altered behavior. To connect these diverse processes, it appears necessary to show how neuroanatomical arrangements and physiological activity can be correlated with synaptic changes that follow specific biochemical activity at a given site. It is also important to consider how synaptic change alters the properties of neurons and populations of neurons. The theoretical part of this task is taken up in the fifth and final section of this volume, which includes modeling studies of the single dendrite as well as novel analyses of synapses in networks.