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Excitatory Amino Acids: Membrane Physiology

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Neurotransmitter Actions in the Vertebrate Nervous System

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Abstract

The excitatory action of acidic amino acids on neuronal membranes was first revealed in electrophysiological studies on cortical neurons (Hayashi, 1954) and, subsequently, on spinal neurons (Curtis et al., 1960). Amino acids such as l-glutamate and l-aspartate excite neurons in virtually every area of the vertebrate nervous system with the exception of those in sensory and autonomic ganglia. A large number of other acidic amino acids, including the sulphur-containing analogs cysteic and homocysteic acids, are also potent excitatory substances, and since the optical isomers of aspartate, glutamate and homocysteate show relatively little difference in potency it is easy, in retrospect, to appreciate the disappointment this lack of specificity must have generated. This ubiquitous excitatory action of acidic amino acids initially led Curtis and Watkins (1960) to suggest that these substances were unlikely to act as synaptic transmitters.

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Authors
  1. Mark L. Mayer
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  2. Gary L. Westbrook
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Michael A. Rogawski  & Jeffery L. Barker  & 

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© 1985 Plenum Press, New York

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Mayer, M.L., Westbrook, G.L. (1985). Excitatory Amino Acids: Membrane Physiology. In: Rogawski, M.A., Barker, J.L. (eds) Neurotransmitter Actions in the Vertebrate Nervous System. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4961-7_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4961-7_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-4963-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-4961-7

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