Synaptic transfer at a vertebrate central nervous system synapse.

1. The relation between presynaptic depolarization and transmitter release was examined at a synapse between a Müller axon and a lateral interneurone in the spinal cord of the lamprey. Two micro-electrodes, one for passing current and the other for recording the resulting voltage change, were placed in the presynaptic axon; a single electrode for recording the post-synaptic potential produced by release of transmitter was placed in the post-synaptic cell. 2. When action potentials were blocked with tetrodotoxin, brief depolarizing pulses in the presynaptic fibre were as effective as the action potential had been in producing transmitter release. 3. The release process had an apparent threshold depolarization of 40-50 mV and saturated at presynaptic depolarizations of the order of 100 mV. Increasing the duration of the presynaptic pulse increased the maximum level of release. 4. Displacing the presynaptic voltage recording electrode from the position of synaptic contact toward the current passing electrode increased the apparent depolarization required to produce a given level of transmitter release. This shift in the input-output relation was consistent in magnitude with the voltage attenuation between the presynaptic recording electrode and the synapse expected from the space constant of the fibre. 5. The effect of conditioning hyperpolarization and depolarization of the presynaptic fibre on subsequent transmitter release by brief depolarizing pulses was examined. No effect was observed when the presynaptic recording electrode was in the region of synaptic contact. When the presynaptic electrode was not so positioned, conditioning effects were observed which depended on electode position and could be attributed to changes in the space constant of the presynaptic fibre. No conditioning effects were observed on transmitter release by the action potential.