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The Synapse

The Synapse

Neurons communicate with one another by passing on their electrical signals to other neurons. A synapse is the location where two neurons meet to exchange signals. At the synapse, the neuron that sends the signal is called the presynaptic cell, while the neuron that receives the message is called the postsynaptic cell. Note that most neurons can be both presynaptic and postsynaptic, as they both transmit and receive information.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Presynaptically Silent Synapses Studied with Light Microscopy

Presynaptically Silent Synapses Studied with Light Microscopy

Published on: January 4, 2010

Presynaptically silent synapses studied with light microscopy.

Krista L Moulder¹, Xiaoping Jiang, Amanda A Taylor

¹Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, USA.

Journal of Visualized Experiments : Jove

|January 6, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers visualized presynaptic terminal activity in rodent hippocampus cultures. They found that depolarizing stimuli silence glutamate release, while electrical silencing or cAMP activation can reactivate silent synapses, revealing novel mechanisms of synaptic plasticity.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cell Biology
Synaptic Plasticity

Background:

Synaptic plasticity is crucial for learning, memory, and neuroprotection.
Presynaptic plasticity involves digital switching of neurotransmitter release.
Understanding glutamate release regulation is key to nervous system function.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a protocol for visualizing presynaptic terminal activity status.
To investigate the digital switching of glutamate vesicle release.
To identify conditions that modulate presynaptic terminal activity.

Main Methods:

Utilized dissociated rodent hippocampus cell cultures.
Employed FM1-43 dye staining to detect active synapses.
Used vGluT-1 immunostaining to label all glutamate synapses.
Compared staining profiles under different stimulation conditions.

Main Results:

Depolarizing stimuli were found to induce presynaptic silencing.
A population of silent synapses under baseline conditions was identified.
Prolonged electrical silencing reactivated silent synapses.
Activation of cAMP signaling pathways also reactivated silent synapses.

Conclusions:

Established a method to visualize presynaptic terminal activity in real-time.
Demonstrated that glutamate release can be digitally switched off by depolarization.
Identified novel pathways for reactivating silent synapses, offering insights into neural adaptability.