Comparative efficiency of volume and synaptic transmission in the coerulean system: relevance to neurologic...

Over the past few years evidence has accumulated which confirms earlier beliefs that punctate synaptic transmission (wiring transmission) is not the only means by which "informational substances" affect cerebral neurons. This paper considers the relative efficiency of "volume" and "wiring" transmission in controlling large populations of neurons taking as a specific example the mammalian coerulean system. Making reasonable quantitative assumptions it is shown that volume transmission is a more efficient means of controlling "mass" functions than a wiring mode. Implications for the reorganisation of function following brain damage are noted.