Miniature transmitter release: accident of nature or careful design?
Miniature transmitter release results from the constitutive low-level release of individual vesicles of neurotransmitter. Since the 1950s, this form of synaptic transmission has largely been thought to reflect a leaky evoked-release mechanism, and it was not clear whether it had a function of its own. Recent data challenge this view and suggest that miniature release can affect both the local chemistry of synapses and the network properties of neurons.
Otsu
Yo
Y
Kinsmen Laboratory and Brain Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T 1Z3.
Murphy
Timothy H
TH
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*
D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents