In recent years, sensory neuroscientists have made major efforts to dissect the structure and
function of ribbon synapses which process sensory information in the eye and ear. This …

The synapsins are a family of neuronal phosphoproteins evolutionarily conserved in
invertebrate and vertebrate organisms. Their best-characterised function is to modulate …

Communication between cells reaches its highest degree of specialization at chemical
synapses. Some synapses talk in a'whisper'; others' shout'. The'louder'the synapse, the more …

The maintenance of synaptic transmission requires that vesicles be recycled after releasing
neurotransmitter. Several modes of retrieval have been proposed to operate at small …

Sensory synapses of the visual and auditory systems must faithfully encode a wide dynamic
range of graded signals, and must be capable of sustained transmitter release over long …

During the last few decades synaptic vesicles have been assigned to a variety of functional
and morphological classes or “pools”. We have argued in the past (Rizzoli and Betz,) that …

At the presynaptic active zone, Ca 2+ influx triggers fusion of synaptic vesicles. It is not well
understood how Ca 2+ channel clustering and synaptic vesicle docking are organized …

Sensory neurons with short conduction distances can use nonregenerative, graded
potentials to modulate transmitter release continuously. This mechanism can transmit …

The molecular organization of ribbon synapses in photoreceptors and ON bipolar cells is
reviewed in relation to the process of neurotransmitter release. The interactions between …

A striking feature of the body plan of a majority of animals is bilateral symmetry. Almost
nothing is known about the mechanisms controlling the symmetrical arrangement of the left …