What are 2 ways that scientists fgured out which functions correspond to which regions of the brain12/26/2023 In the late 1980s, Scheller and Südhof set out independently to unveil the molecular underpinnings of the process. No one knew what drives the vesicles to fuse with the cell membrane or how calcium provokes that event. Calcium entry can spark the release of neurotransmitter packages in less than a millisecond.Īlthough this general scheme had emerged by the time Südhof and Scheller began their work, its molecular details eluded scientists. Neurotransmission occurs astonishingly quickly - fast enough for a person to pull a hand off a hot burner or dodge an attacking mountain lion. Calcium incites these lipid-bound sacs to fuse with the membrane that encases the cell, and their contents spill out (see Figure). Balloon-like containers - vesicles - each hold set quantities of the chemicals. Electron-micrographic studies by others illuminated how. In the 1950s, the late Bernard Katz figured out that cells eject neurotransmitters in fixed amounts. In response, the neuron liberates chemical messengers - neurotransmitters - which travel to the next neuron and thus pass the baton. When that signal reaches the tip, calcium enters the cell. Neurotransmission kicks off with an electrical pulse that runs down a nerve cell, or neuron. A biological relay system achieves these feats.
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