Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Integration of Synaptic Events

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 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.

Synaptic Signaling

Synaptic Signaling

Neurons communicate at synapses, or junctions, to excite or inhibit the activity of other neurons or target cells, such as muscles. Synapses may be chemical or electrical.
Most synapses are chemical, meaning an electrical impulse or action potential spurs the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. The neuron sending the signal is called the presynaptic neuron, and the neuron receiving the signal is the postsynaptic neuron.
The presynaptic neuron fires an action potential that...

Synaptic Signaling

Synaptic Signaling

Neurons communicate at synapses, or junctions, to excite or inhibit the activity of other neurons or target cells, such as muscles. Synapses may be chemical or electrical.

Chemical Synapses

Chemical Synapses

Chemical synapses are specialized sites between two neurons or between a neuron and a non-neuronal cell like a muscle, glandular or sensory cell.
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...

Chemical Synapses

Chemical Synapses

Chemical synapses are specialized sites between two neurons or between a neuron and a non-neuronal cell like a muscle, glandular or sensory cell.
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Layer-specific feature preference in a trained AlexNet model revealed by stylized image analysis.

Scientific reports·2026

Same author

The role of attention in multi attribute decision making.

Nature communications·2025

Same author

Excitatory/inhibitory ratio disruption modulates neural synchrony and flow directions in a cortical microcircuit.

PLoS computational biology·2025

Same author

Local connections among excitatory neurons underlie characteristics of enriched environment exposure-induced neuronal response modulation in layers 2/3 of the mouse V1.

Frontiers in systems neuroscience·2025

Same author

Event-driven figure-ground organisation model for the humanoid robot iCub.

Nature communications·2025

Same author

Neural activity responsiveness by maturation of inhibition underlying critical period plasticity.

Frontiers in neural circuits·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 16, 2026

Real-time Electrophysiology: Using Closed-loop Protocols to Probe Neuronal Dynamics and Beyond

Real-time Electrophysiology: Using Closed-loop Protocols to Probe Neuronal Dynamics and Beyond

Published on: June 24, 2015

Spike synchrony generated by modulatory common input through NMDA-type synapses.

Nobuhiko Wagatsuma¹, Rüdiger von der Heydt², Ernst Niebur²

¹School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Denki University, Saitama, Japan; and Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland nwagatsuma@rd.dendai.ac.jp.

Journal of Neurophysiology

|August 4, 2016

Summary

Modulatory common input via N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors enhances neural firing and synchrony. Unexpectedly, loose synchrony peaks at intermediate modulation, explaining visual cortex dynamics and highlighting NMDA receptors' role in top-down modulation.

Keywords:

N-methyl-d-aspartate-type synapse border ownership modulatory input selective attention synchrony

More Related Videos

Generation of Local CA1 γ Oscillations by Tetanic Stimulation

Generation of Local CA1 γ Oscillations by Tetanic Stimulation

Published on: August 14, 2015

Ex Vivo Optogenetic Interrogation of Long-Range Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity from Medial Prefrontal Cortex to Lateral Entorhinal Cortex

Ex Vivo Optogenetic Interrogation of Long-Range Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity from Medial Prefrontal Cortex to Lateral Entorhinal Cortex

Published on: February 25, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 16, 2026

Real-time Electrophysiology: Using Closed-loop Protocols to Probe Neuronal Dynamics and Beyond

Real-time Electrophysiology: Using Closed-loop Protocols to Probe Neuronal Dynamics and Beyond

Published on: June 24, 2015

Generation of Local CA1 γ Oscillations by Tetanic Stimulation

Generation of Local CA1 γ Oscillations by Tetanic Stimulation

Published on: August 14, 2015

Ex Vivo Optogenetic Interrogation of Long-Range Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity from Medial Prefrontal Cortex to Lateral Entorhinal Cortex

Ex Vivo Optogenetic Interrogation of Long-Range Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity from Medial Prefrontal Cortex to Lateral Entorhinal Cortex

Published on: February 25, 2022

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience
Synaptic Plasticity

Background:

Common excitatory input increases neuronal firing rates and synchrony.
The effects of modulatory common input on neuronal synchrony are not well understood.
N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors have slow synaptic kinetics, suggesting a role in modulation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the synchronizing effects of modulatory common input with slow synaptic kinetics.
To model the relationship between modulation strength and neuronal synchrony.
To explain neurophysiological findings in the visual cortex related to top-down modulation.

Main Methods:

Computational modeling of integrate-and-fire neurons.
Simulating common input with NMDA and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor kinetics.
Analyzing the relationship between modulation strength and both tight and loose synchrony.

Main Results:

Modulatory common input via NMDA receptors enhances firing rates and synchrony.
Tight synchrony consistently increases with modulation strength.
Loose synchrony exhibits a non-monotonic relationship, peaking at intermediate modulation amplitudes.
Models with AMPA receptors did not show this paradoxical decrease in synchrony.

Conclusions:

NMDA receptor kinetics are crucial for the observed non-monotonic relationship between modulation and loose synchrony.
The findings explain visual cortex responses to contour grouping and attention.
NMDA receptors play a critical role in top-down response modulation in the visual cortex.