Imaging the structure and function of single synapses

Karel Svoboda
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Abstract

Electrophysiological methods typically report the function of populations of synapses. The inherent averaging obscures rich aspects of synaptic biology. Optical methods allow the measurements of synaptic structure and function at the level of individual synapses. I will describe experiments from our laboratory, using 2-photon microscopy, that attempt to dissect synaptic transmission and plasticity of individual synapses in brain slices and in vivo.

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Oertner, T. G., Sabatini, B. S., Nimchinsky, E. A., and Svoboda, K. (2002). Facilitation at single synapses probed with optical quantal analysis. Nat Neurosci 5, 657-664.

Sabatini, B. L., and Svoboda, K. (2000). Analysis of calcium channels in single spines using optical fluctuation analysis. Nature 408, 589-593.

Svoboda, K., Tank, D. W., and Denk, W. (1996). Direct measurement of coupling between dendritic spines and shafts. Science 272, 716-719.

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