Recent Advances In Measuring And Controlling Synaptic Communication

Recent Advances in Measuring and Controlling Synaptic Communication

Synapses represent a unique neuronal compartment specialized in communication. The morpho-functional investigation of the synapse has always been hindered by its tiny size and high density of molecular elements, but specific technological and methodological advances helped us to reduce these limitations. As the matter of fact, in recent years, we have witnessed the continuous development of new methods allowing measuring and controlling synaptic activation both in vitro and in vivo. These include new genetically encoded sensors of synaptic exo-endocytosis, but also engineered synaptic proteins able to inhibit the release of neurotransmitters. Furthermore, new promising tools allow changing the functional properties of synapses in a plasticity-like manner. All these methodological advances are likely to generate unprecedented knowledge about the dynamics of synaptic transmission and plasticity at several levels of the nervous system. Nevertheless, in most cases, the implementation of these new methods remains technically demanding, likely due to the high complexity of their operating principle. Hence, it would be worth refining and potentiating these tools in order to extend the range of experimental settings for their application.

AETA 2019 - Recent Advances in Electrical Engineering and Related Sciences: Theory and Application

This proceedings book features selected papers on 12 themes, including telecommunication, power systems, digital signal processing, robotics, control systems, renewable energy, power electronics, soft computing and more. Covering topics such as optoelectronic oscillator at S-band and C-band for 5G telecommunications, neural networks identification of eleven types of faults in high voltage transmission lines, cyber-attack mitigation on smart low voltage distribution grids, optimum load of a piezoelectric-based energy harvester, the papers present interesting ideas and state-of-the-art overviews.

Current Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Piecing Together the Candidate Path That Guides the Translation From Etiology to Treatment