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When an action potential reaches the presynaptic axon terminal, it releases neurotransmitters from the neuron into the synaptic cleft at a chemical synapse. The released neurotransmitter can be excitatory or inhibitory. The critical criteria commonly used to determine whether a molecule is a neurotransmitter at a chemical synapse are the molecule's presence in the presynaptic neuron. Second, its release is in response to strong presynaptic depolarization. And lastly, the presence of...

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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...

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Action Potential

Action Potential

Neurons communicate by firing action potentials—the electrochemical signal that is propagated along the axon. The signal results in the release of neurotransmitters at axon terminals, thereby transmitting information to the nervous system. An action potential is a specific "all-or-none" change in membrane potential that results in a rapid spike in voltage.
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Action Potential

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Neurons communicate by firing action potentials—the electrochemical signal that is propagated along the axon. The signal results in the release of neurotransmitters at axon terminals, thereby transmitting information to the nervous system. An action potential is a specific "all-or-none" change in membrane potential that results in a rapid spike in voltage.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 4, 2025

Induction of an Isoelectric Brain State to Investigate the Impact of Endogenous Synaptic Activity on Neuronal Excitability In Vivo

Induction of an Isoelectric Brain State to Investigate the Impact of Endogenous Synaptic Activity on Neuronal Excitability In Vivo

Published on: March 31, 2016

How inhibitory neurons increase information transmission under threshold modulation.

Wei-Mien M Hsu¹, David B Kastner², Stephen A Baccus³

¹Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.

|May 26, 2021

Summary

Neuronal threshold modulation, common in the brain, can reduce accuracy. However, inhibitory neurons selectively applying this modulation to sparse neurons minimizes accuracy loss, maximizing information transmission.

Keywords:

context modulation information theory mutual information neural cell types neural sparseness neuromodulation stoachstic resonance

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Last Updated: Nov 4, 2025

Induction of an Isoelectric Brain State to Investigate the Impact of Endogenous Synaptic Activity on Neuronal Excitability In Vivo

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Published on: March 31, 2016

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience
Sensory Processing

Background:

Neuronal threshold modulation is widespread in the brain, influencing functions like attention and motion detection.
This modulation, while common, poses a challenge by potentially reducing neuronal representation accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate the functional role and benefits of widespread neuronal threshold modulation.
Determine how the negative impacts of threshold modulation on neuronal accuracy can be mitigated.

Main Methods:

Comparative analysis of neuronal variability effects.
Modeling selective modulation by inhibitory neurons.
Experimental verification in the retina using amacrine and ganglion cells.

Main Results:

Neuronal threshold modulation is less detrimental to accuracy than other forms of neuronal variability.
Selective modulation by inhibitory neurons can nearly eliminate accuracy reduction.
Retinal inhibitory amacrine cells selectively modulate sparsely responding ganglion cells.

Conclusions:

Inhibitory neurons play a crucial role in optimizing information transmission by selectively modulating neuronal thresholds.
Selective modulation by inhibitory neurons is a key mechanism for preserving accuracy in neural circuits.