Quantal analysis of the size of excitatory post‐synaptic potentials at synapses between hair cells and afferent nerve fibres in goldfish.

1. A statistical analysis has been made of the transmitter release at the hair cell afferent fibre synapse in the sacculus of the goldfish, using the amplitude of the excitatory post‐synaptic potentials (e.p.s.p.s) in response to stimulus tone as a measure of the transmitter release under application of tetrodotoxin. 2. Application of binomial statistics allowed a direct calculation of the mean probability of release (p) and the readily available store (n), and the X2‐test showed that the binomial predictions fitted fairly well with the observed distribution of the responses. 3. Adaptive rundown of e.p.s.p.s during sound stimulation, i.e. the successive rundown in the size of the mean quantal content (m), was found to be associated with a reduction in the size of parameter n, but not of p. 4. A marked negative correlation was demonstrated between the amplitude of two consecutive e.p.s.p.s, supporting the depletion hypothesis of the adaptive rundown of e.p.s.p.s. 5. The increase in the e.p.s.p. amplitude and the increase in the mean quantal content, m, brought about by an increase in the tone intensity were found mostly explicable in terms of an increase in the statistical parameter n. The probability parameter p was found largely in invariable, although in certain instances the increase in m was also accompanied by a slight increase in the parameter p.

[1]  T. Furukawa,et al.  Neurophysiological studies on hearing in goldfish. , 1967, Journal of neurophysiology.

[2]  E. McLachlan An analysis of the release of acetylcholine from preganglionic nerve terminals. , 1975, The Journal of physiology.

[3]  T. Furukawa,et al.  Quantal nature of transmission at the synapse between hair cells and eighth nerve fibers. , 1971, The Japanese journal of physiology.

[4]  M. Kuno Quantal components of excitatory synaptic potentials in spinal motoneurones , 1964, The Journal of physiology.

[5]  A. Wernig,et al.  Changes in statistical parameters during facilitation at the crayfish neuromuscular junction , 1972, The Journal of physiology.

[6]  A. R. Martin,et al.  Quantal Nature of Synaptic Transmission , 1966 .

[7]  B. Katz,et al.  Statistical factors involved in neuromuscular facilitation and depression , 1954, The Journal of physiology.

[8]  M. Bennett,et al.  The effect of calcium ions on the binomial statistic parameters that control acetylcholine release at preganglionic nerve terminals. , 1976, The Journal of physiology.

[9]  A. Wernig,et al.  The binomial nature of transmitter release at the crayfish neuromuscular junction , 1971, The Journal of physiology.

[10]  A. R. Martin,et al.  A further study of the statistical composition of the end‐plate potential , 1955, The Journal of physiology.

[11]  G. Pilar,et al.  Quantal components of the synaptic potential in the ciliary ganglion of the chick , 1964, The Journal of physiology.

[12]  E. Frank Matching of facilitation at the neuromuscular junction of the lobster: a possible case for influence of muscle on nerve , 1973, The Journal of physiology.

[13]  M. Bennett,et al.  A statistical analysis of the release of acetylcholine at newly formed synapses in striated muscle , 1974, The Journal of physiology.

[14]  S. W. Kuffler,et al.  Post‐synaptic potentiation: interaction between quanta of acetylcholine at the skeletal neuromuscular synapse. , 1975, The Journal of physiology.

[15]  R. Zucker Changes in the statistics of transmitter release during facilitation , 1973, The Journal of physiology.

[16]  J. Weakly,et al.  Correlation between nerve terminal size and transmitter release at the neuromuscular junction of the frog , 1971, The Journal of physiology.

[17]  R. Volle,et al.  Effects of physiologic alterations on binomial transmitter release at magnesium‐depressed neuromuscular junctions. , 1976, The Journal of physiology.

[18]  B. Katz,et al.  Quantal components of the end‐plate potential , 1954, The Journal of physiology.

[19]  T. Furukawa,et al.  Adaptive rundown of excitatory post‐synaptic potentials at synapses between hair cells and eight nerve fibres in the goldfish. , 1978, The Journal of physiology.

[20]  T. H. Brown,et al.  Evoked neurotransmitter release: statistical effects of nonuniformity and nonstationarity. , 1976, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[21]  T. Reese,et al.  EVIDENCE FOR RECYCLING OF SYNAPTIC VESICLE MEMBRANE DURING TRANSMITTER RELEASE AT THE FROG NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION , 1973, The Journal of cell biology.

[22]  D. Elmqvist,et al.  A quantitative study of end‐plate potentials in isolated human muscle. , 1965, The Journal of physiology.

[23]  A. R. Martin,et al.  The end‐plate potential in mammalian muscle , 1956, The Journal of physiology.

[24]  A. Wernig Estimates of statistical release parameters from crayfish and frog neuromuscular junctions. , 1975, The Journal of physiology.

[25]  B. L. Ginsborg,et al.  On the quantal release of the transmitter at a sympathetic synapse , 1963, The Journal of physiology.

[26]  M. D. Miyamoto Binomial analysis of quantal transmitter release at glycerol treated frog neuromuscular junctions. , 1975, The Journal of physiology.