The Squid Synapse: A Model for Chemical Transmission

  • Rodolfo R. Llinas
Oxford University Press: 1999. 224 pp. £49.95, $85
Axon at work: the squid's oversized neuron has contributed much to neurophysiology. Credit: J. L. ROTMAN/CORBIS

When it comes to contributing to our knowledge of neuronal function, no creature can surpass the squid. Its axon has enabled us to discover the ionic basis of electrical signalling, and its synapse has revealed the chemical signalling between neurons. Rodolfo Llinas' book summarizes what this invertebrate has told us about chemical synaptic transmission.

The author is a leading scientist in research fields ranging from cellular to system neurophysiology, and the first half of his book introduces readers to classic electrophysiological findings on chemical transmission, many of which cannot be found in general textbooks. The rest of the book is devoted to the molecular mechanisms of synaptic transmission, in particular the roles of synapsins and SNAREs in transmitter release.

Throughout, much emphasis is given to the key role of calcium, which is described with many original findings by the author and his collaborators. In this respect, the book may be regarded as the notebook of a scientist who has pursued the “painstaking deciphering of nature's small print”, as the author himself puts it. Despite the book's personal nature, it successfully reveals the current state of synaptic research and the direct approaches that have been used to build this up. It should therefore attract a wide audience, particularly those interested in listening to nature directly rather than passively accepting current paradigms.

Finally, the book comes with a CD-Rom containing an excellent program of a synaptic model. The program enables one to perform ‘virtual’ recordings from a presynaptic terminal and postsynaptic target cell, and to test the effects of manipulating various parameters such as intracellular and extracellular calcium concentrations or the shape and size of presynaptic action potentials. This program will surely attract young students, as well as researchers, who are interested in computer simulations of neuronal function. This model also reminds us of the dynamic aspects of synaptic function and that individual neurons are not merely passive elements in neuronal networks, but actively influence brain function through synaptic modulation.