Functional Consequences of Neuropeptide and Small-molecule Co-transmission

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Neurosci

Specialty Neurology

Date 2017 Jun 9

PMID 28592905

Citations 141

Authors

Michael P Nusbaum

Dawn M Blitz

Eve Marder

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Colocalization of small-molecule and neuropeptide transmitters is common throughout the nervous system of all animals. The resulting co-transmission, which provides conjoint ionotropic ('classical') and metabotropic ('modulatory') actions, includes neuropeptide- specific aspects that are qualitatively different from those that result from metabotropic actions of small-molecule transmitter release. Here, we focus on the flexibility afforded to microcircuits by such co-transmission, using examples from various nervous systems. Insights from such studies indicate that co-transmission mediated even by a single neuron can configure microcircuit activity via an array of contributing mechanisms, operating on multiple timescales, to enhance both behavioural flexibility and robustness.

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