AI Article Synopsis
- Classic theories suggest there is a link between cognitive abilities and synaptic properties, which may explain the advanced performance of the human cerebral cortex.
- Research shows that human pyramidal cell to fast-spiking interneuron connections have four times more functional release sites compared to those in rats, even with similar quantal sizes.
- Detailed imaging reveals humans have more vesicles and a higher density of release sites at presynaptic active zones than rats, emphasizing significant differences in synaptic connections between species.
Article Abstract
Classic theories link cognitive abilities to synaptic properties and human-specific biophysical features of synapses might contribute to the unparalleled performance of the human cerebral cortex. Paired recordings and multiple probability fluctuation analysis revealed similar quantal sizes, but 4-times more functional release sites in human pyramidal cell to fast-spiking interneuron connections compared to rats. These connections were mediated on average by three synaptic contacts in both species. Each presynaptic active zone (AZ) contains 6.2 release sites in human, but only 1.6 in rats. Electron microscopy (EM) and EM tomography showed that an AZ harbors 4 docked vesicles in human, but only a single one in rats. Consequently, a Katz's functional release site occupies ~0.012 μm(2) in the human presynaptic AZ and ~0.025 μm(2) in the rat. Our results reveal a robust difference in the biophysical properties of a well-defined synaptic connection of the cortical microcircuit of human and rodents.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4999310 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.18167 | DOI Listing |
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