Abstract
THE change in permeability produced at excitatory synapses by chemical transmitters tends to drive the membrane toward an equilibrium potential which is closer to zero potential than is the resting level. In the central neurones which have so far been examined1 the passive electrical properties of the extrasynaptic membrane have been shown to be relatively constant for small subthreshold depolarizations and for a wide range of hyperpolarizations. Consequently, hyperpolarizing currents, which move the membrane potential away from the equilibrium level, increase the amplitude of the excitatory post-synaptic potential (EPSP) (but see ref. 2), while depolarizing currents, which bring the membrane potential toward the equilibrium-level, decrease the amplitude of the EPSP.
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TAUC, L., KANDEL, E. An Anomalous form of Rectification in a Molluscan Central Neurone. Nature 202, 1339–1341 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/2021339a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2021339a0
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