Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 2, 2025

Single Synapse Indicators of Glutamate Release and Uptake in Acute Brain Slices from Normal and Huntington Mice
Published on: March 11, 2020
Sleep need driven oscillation of glutamate synaptic phenotype
K E Vogt1, A Kulkarni2, R Pandey3
1International Institute of Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
Abstract:
Sleep loss increases AMPA-synaptic strength and number in the neocortex. However, this is only part of the synaptic sleep loss response. We report increased AMPA/NMDA EPSC ratio in frontal-cortical pyramidal neurons of layers 2-3. Silent synapses are absent, decreasing the plastic potential to convert silent NMDA to active AMPA synapses. These sleep loss changes are recovered by sleep. Sleep genes are enriched for synaptic shaping cellular components controlling glutamate synapse phenotype, overlap with autism risk genes and are primarily observed in excitatory pyramidal neurons projecting intra-telencephalically. These genes are enriched with genes controlled by the transcription factor, MEF2c and its repressor, HDAC4. Sleep genes can thus provide a framework within which motor learning and training occurs mediated by sleep-dependent oscillation of glutamate-synaptic phenotypes.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Receptor: Gating Mechanism
Long-term Potentiation
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when...
Antiepileptic Drugs: Glutamate Antagonists
Long-term Depression
Excitatory and Inhibitory Effects of Neurotransmitters
Chemical Synapses
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...

