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Information Processing in Synapses

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Springer Handbook of Bio-/Neuroinformatics

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Abstract

The synapse is a basic functional structure for information processing between neurons in the central nervous system, required for understanding of the functional properties of neural circuits and brain functions, and even the consciousness that emerges from them. There is now a wealth of experimental results concerning the detailed structure and functional properties of synapses on the basis of molecular biological, since the series of pioneering works by Bert Sakmann and Shosaku Numa in the 1980s that had been originally suggested and postulated by Bernard Katz and colleagues. With the introduction of more advanced research techniques, such as the patch-clamp method (in electrophysiology), two-photon confocal laser microscopy (in imaging), and molecular biological methods, into the research field of synaptic physiology, understanding of the functional significance of synapses has advanced enormously at the molecular level, with fruitful results. Furthermore, emerging new techniques with the invention of noninvasive whole-brain imaging methods (functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), etc.) make it necessary for researchers to have deep understanding of the relationship between the microscopic physiological phenomena and the higher brain functions composed of and elicited from neural networks. Quantitative expressions of electrical and chemical signal transactions carried out within neural networks allow investigators in other fields such as engineering, computer science, and applied physics to treat these biological mechanisms mathematically for computational neuroscience. In this chapter, the physiology, biophysics, and pharmacology of the information processes of synaptic transmission in the central nervous system are presented to provide the necessary background knowledge to researchers in these fields. Especially, electrophysiological results regarding receptors and ion channels, playing important roles in synaptic transmission, are presented from the viewpoint of biophysics. Moreover, one of the most advanced techniques, namely fast multiple-point photolysis by two-photon laser beam activation of receptors in the membrane of a single neuron and neural tissues on the submicron level, is introduced together with results obtained by authorsʼ experiments.

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Abbreviations

AC:

adenylate cyclase

ACSF:

artificial cerebrospinal fluid

ACh:

muscarinic acetylcholine

AChE:

acetylcholinesterase

AMPA:

α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid

AMPAR:

(amino-methylisoxazole-propionic acid) receptor

AOC:

acoustooptical crystal

AOCD:

acoustooptical crystal deflector

ATP:

adenosine triphosphate

CO:

carbon monoxide

CRIPT:

cysteine-rich interactor of PDZ3

CaMKII:

calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II

DAG:

diacylglycerol

EPP:

end-plate potential

EPSC:

excitatory postsynaptic current

EPSP:

excitatory postsynaptic potential

ER:

endoplasmic reticulum

FFT:

fast Fourier transformation

GABA:

gamma-aminobutyric acid

GDP:

guanosine diphosphate

GFP:

green fluorescent protein

GKAP:

guanylate kinase-associated protein

GMD:

galvanometer deflector

GRIP:

glutamate receptor-interacting protein

GTP:

guanosine triphosphate

IPSC:

inhibitory postsynaptic current

IPSP:

inhibitory postsynaptic potential

IR:

infrared

KA-R:

kainate receptor

LTD:

long-term depression

LTP:

long-term potentiation

MNI:

4-methoxy-7-nitroindolinyl

NMDA:

N-methyl-d-aspartate

NMDAR:

(N-methyl-d-aspartate acid) NMDA receptor

NMJ:

neuromuscular junction

NO:

nitric oxide

PKA:

protein kinase A

PKC:

protein kinase C

PSD:

postsynaptic density

QA-R:

quisqualate receptor

RIM:

Rab3-interacting module

RMP:

resting membrane potential

SAP-102:

synapse-associated protein-102

SGS:

squid giant synapse

SNAP:

soluble NSF attachment protein

SNARE:

SNAP receptor

STDP:

spike-timing dependent plasticity

SynGAP:

synaptic GTPase-activating protein

UV:

ultraviolet

VAMP:

vesicle associated membrane protein

VOR:

vestibulo-ocular reflex

cAMP:

cyclic adenosine monophosphate

fMRI:

functional magnetic resonance imaging

mEPP:

miniature end-plate potential

t-SNARE:

target soluble NSF attachment receptor

v-SNARE:

vesicle SNARE

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  1. Intelligent Information Systems, Tamagawa University, 6-1-1 Tamagawa Gakuen, Machida, 194-8610, Tokyo, Japan

    Hiroshi Kojima

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  1. KEDRI – Knowledge Engineering and Discovery Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, 120 Mayoral Drive, 1010, Auckland, New Zealand

    Nikola Kasabov

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Kojima, H. (2014). Information Processing in Synapses. In: Kasabov, N. (eds) Springer Handbook of Bio-/Neuroinformatics. Springer Handbooks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30574-0_36

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