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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Dopamine Release at Individual Presynaptic Terminals Visualized with FFNs
Published on: August 31, 2009
The probability of neurotransmitter release: variability and feedback control at single synapses
1Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, WC1E 6BT, UK. t.branco@ucl.ac.uk
Abstract:
Information transfer at chemical synapses occurs when vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane and release neurotransmitter. This process is stochastic and its likelihood of occurrence is a crucial factor in the regulation of signal propagation in neuronal networks. The reliability of neurotransmitter release can be highly variable: experimental data from electrophysiological, molecular and imaging studies have demonstrated that synaptic terminals can individually set their neurotransmitter release probability dynamically through local feedback regulation. This local tuning of transmission has important implications for current models of single-neuron computation.
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