Synaptic transmission occurs when vesicles of neurotransmitter are released from a presynaptic neuron, activating receptors and causing a potential change in the postsynaptic neuron. For each presynaptic action potential, one or zero vesicles or “quanta” of transmitter may be released, each contributing to the total postsynaptic potential.
Quantal analysis is a technique for deducing information about the number of release sites, their probability of releasing vesicles following a presynaptic action potential, and the size of the change caused by one vesicle.
This directory contains the Matlab code used to do the quantal analysis in Hardingham et al 2006, 2010. Documentation is provided in QuantalAnalysis2.pdf. To get started, type FitData6 at the Matlab command line.
This code was used in the following papers from our group
Quantal analysis reveals a functional correlation between presynaptic and postsynaptic efficacy in excitatory connections from rat neocortex.
Hardingham NR, Read JC, Trevelyan AJ, Nelson JC, Jack JJ, Bannister NJ.
J Neurosci. 2010 Jan 27;30(4):1441-51. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3244-09.2010.
Extracellular calcium regulates postsynaptic efficacy through group 1 metabotropic glutamate receptors.
Hardingham NR, Bannister NJ, Read JC, Fox KD, Hardingham GE, Jack JJ.
J Neurosci. 2006 Jun 7;26(23):6337-45.
Presynaptic efficacy directs normalization of synaptic strength in layer 2/3 rat neocortex after paired activity.
Hardingham NR, Hardingham GE, Fox KD, Jack JJ.
J Neurophysiol. 2007 Apr;97(4):2965-75. Epub 2007 Jan 31.
and in the following papers by other groups:
Structural Properties of Synaptic Transmission and Temporal Dynamics at Excitatory Layer 5B Synapses in the Adult Rat Somatosensory Cortex.
Astrid Rollenhagen, Ora Ohana, Kurt Sätzler, Claus C. Hilgetag, Dietmar Kuhl and Joachim H. R. Lübke, Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience, 30 July 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsyn.2018.00024
Structure and function of a neocortical synapse.
Simone Holler, German Köstinger, Kevan A. C. Martin, Gregor F. P. Schuhknecht and Ken J. Stratford, Nature, 13 Jan 2021.