Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Receptor: Gating Mechanism01:30

Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Receptor: Gating Mechanism

Ligand-gated ion channels are transmembrane proteins that play a vital role in intercellular communication and functions of the nervous system. They allow the influx of ions across the membrane once the neurotransmitter binds, allowing the subsequent transmission of electrical excitation across the neurons. Other ligand-gated ion channels, like the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor, permit anions like chloride into the cells on the binding of the GABA molecule. Their entry into the cell...
Integration of Synaptic Events01:28

Integration of Synaptic Events

Synaptic integration mainly includes the summation of graded potentials. Graded potentials, regardless of their type, cause subtle alterations in membrane voltage, resulting in either depolarization or hyperpolarization. These incremental changes, when combined or summed, can propel the neuron toward its threshold. Consider, for example, a membrane experiencing a +15 mV shift, causing it to depolarize from -70 mV to -55 mV. In this scenario, graded potentials govern the membrane's ability to...
The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation01:19

The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation

A postsynaptic neuron usually receives numerous impulses from several other presynaptic neurons. The axon hillock of the postsynaptic neuron integrates all these signals and determines the likelihood of firing an action potential.
Sometimes a single EPSP is strong enough to induce an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. However, multiple presynaptic inputs must often create EPSPs around the same time for the postsynaptic neuron to be sufficiently depolarized to fire an action potential.
The Two-State Receptor Model01:29

The Two-State Receptor Model

The two-state receptor model explains a drug's interaction with receptors, such as G protein-coupled receptors and ligand-gated ion channels, to induce or inhibit a biological response. When no natural ligands are present, a receptor exists in an equilibrium of inactive (Ri) and active (Ra) conformations. The inactive form does not produce a response, while the active form generates a basal effect known as constitutive activity.
The binding affinity of a drug determines its interaction with one...
Design Example: Frog Muscle Response01:14

Design Example: Frog Muscle Response

A student is tasked to work on an intriguing experiment involving an RL (Resistor-Inductor) circuit to study the muscle response of a frog's leg to electrical stimulation. The RL circuit plays a crucial role in this experiment, providing the means to control and measure the electrical impulses that trigger muscle contraction.
When the switch connecting the RL circuit is closed, a brief muscle contraction is observed. This is because, at a steady state, the inductor acts like a short circuit,...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Graph-based analysis of volumetric image data reveals predominant layer Va-to-II/III feedback in mouse motor cortex.

Cell reports·2026
Same author

Forecasting Excessive Anesthesia Depth Using EEG α-Spindle Dynamics and Machine Learning.

IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering : a publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society·2026
Same author

Female Mice Show Stronger Time-of-Day Modulation of Astrocytic Ca<sup>2+</sup> Activity in the Sleep-Regulatory Ventrolateral Preoptic Nucleus.

Glia·2026
Same author

WEAKLY SUPERVISED SEGMENTATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN AGGREGATES IN BRIGHTFIELD MIDBRAIN IMAGES.

ArXiv·2025
Same author

How should clinicians interpret these results?

European journal of anaesthesiology·2025
Same author

Insulation between adjacent TADs is controlled by the width of their boundaries through distinct mechanisms.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 30, 2026

Identification and Classification of Position-specific GABAA Receptor Subunit Missense Variants for Their Role In Hippocampal Pyramidal Neurons
08:04

Identification and Classification of Position-specific GABAA Receptor Subunit Missense Variants for Their Role In Hippocampal Pyramidal Neurons

Published on: June 6, 2025

Estimating the synaptic current in a multiconductance AMPA receptor model.

Adi Taflia1, David Holcman

  • 1Department of Mathematics, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.

Biophysical Journal
|August 17, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Changes in postsynaptic density (PSD) geometry can alter synaptic current reliability. An optimal PSD size, influenced by receptor cooperativity, minimizes synaptic transmission variability, suggesting a novel form of synaptic plasticity.

More Related Videos

Dynamic Clamp Methods to Investigate Impaired Neuronal Excitability Associated with Autism
08:44

Dynamic Clamp Methods to Investigate Impaired Neuronal Excitability Associated with Autism

Published on: October 17, 2025

Implementing Dynamic Clamp with Synaptic and Artificial Conductances in Mouse Retinal Ganglion Cells
11:46

Implementing Dynamic Clamp with Synaptic and Artificial Conductances in Mouse Retinal Ganglion Cells

Published on: May 16, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 30, 2026

Identification and Classification of Position-specific GABAA Receptor Subunit Missense Variants for Their Role In Hippocampal Pyramidal Neurons
08:04

Identification and Classification of Position-specific GABAA Receptor Subunit Missense Variants for Their Role In Hippocampal Pyramidal Neurons

Published on: June 6, 2025

Dynamic Clamp Methods to Investigate Impaired Neuronal Excitability Associated with Autism
08:44

Dynamic Clamp Methods to Investigate Impaired Neuronal Excitability Associated with Autism

Published on: October 17, 2025

Implementing Dynamic Clamp with Synaptic and Artificial Conductances in Mouse Retinal Ganglion Cells
11:46

Implementing Dynamic Clamp with Synaptic and Artificial Conductances in Mouse Retinal Ganglion Cells

Published on: May 16, 2013

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Computational Biology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Synaptic transmission relies on neurotransmitter diffusion and postsynaptic receptor activation, primarily via AMPA receptors.
  • Factors influencing synaptic current mean and variance, including synaptic cleft geometry, receptor properties, and release location, remain incompletely understood.
  • Quantifying synaptic transmission reliability requires accounting for stochastic processes and receptor states.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a semianalytical method for estimating synaptic current amplitude and coefficient of variation.
  • To investigate the impact of postsynaptic density (PSD) morphology on synaptic current reliability.
  • To explore the relationship between PSD size, receptor cooperativity, and synaptic plasticity.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a semianalytical approach to derive a general expression for the coefficient of variation.
  • Incorporated experimental data on multiconductance receptors into the model.
  • Analyzed the influence of PSD geometry and vesicular release active zone on synaptic current characteristics.

Main Results:

  • PSD morphological changes significantly modulate synaptic current.
  • Maximum synaptic current reliability (minimal coefficient of variation) occurs at an optimal PSD size.
  • This optimal size is dependent on the vesicular release active zone and involves nonlinear receptor multibinding cooperativity.

Conclusions:

  • PSD geometry plays a crucial role in regulating synaptic current reliability.
  • Changes in PSD morphology can induce synaptic plasticity independently of alterations in receptor number.
  • Receptor multibinding cooperativity underlies the relationship between PSD size and synaptic reliability.