Identification of Central Transmitters: Microiontophoresis and Micropressure Techniques

The synapse is recognized as the major structure of interneuronal communication, and a likely site of Integration and information storage within networks of neurons and the central nervous system itself Communication via these synaptic contacts involves a process of transduction of electrical signals (action potentials), to chemical signals (release of transmitter and its activation of postsynaptic receptors), and then back to electrical information (postsynaptic potentials) The chemical step in this process dictates that the pharmacology of synaptic transmission is of substantial importance in determining the functions of single neurons and their interactions with each other Synapses with in the central nervous system are not readily accessible to experimenters because of the microcosmic scale of these structures and the complexity of their anatomical relationships with other neurons, glial cells, and so on Hence, the necessity for techniques that permit the delivery of microquantities of drugs, putative transmitters, and ions to the vicinity of synaptic contacts.