[Quantal analysis of the postsynaptic potentials in interneuronal synapses: the recovery of the signal from the noise]

Abstract

Discrete distributions of the elementary EPSP amplitude in the interneuronal synapses of vertebrates were obtained by the maximum likelihood method. The equality of the intervals between values of the computed densities testifies to the quantal nature of the signal. The binomial model approximating the empirical distributions is revealed to be able to distinguish quantal levels of the nerve impulse transmission. These levels are conditioned by the structural organization of the interneuronal connections. Systematical differences between empirical distributions and the model necessitate generalization of the latter.