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Lecture

Defining Your Synapse

Description

This lecture introduces the NMODL language for defining custom synapse models in the NEURON simulator. The instructor guides through creating NMODL.mod files, modeling AMPA and NMDA glutamate receptors, compiling .mod files, and integrating them into a neuron model.

In MOOC

Simulation Neurocience

Official source

Related concepts (15)

Glutamate receptor

Glutamate receptors are synaptic and non synaptic receptors located primarily on the membranes of neuronal and glial cells. Glutamate (the conjugate base of glutamic acid) is abundant in the human body, but particularly in the nervous system and especially prominent in the human brain where it is the body's most prominent neurotransmitter, the brain's main excitatory neurotransmitter, and also the precursor for GABA, the brain's main inhibitory neurotransmitter.

Kainate receptor

Kainate receptors, or kainic acid receptors (KARs), are ionotropic receptors that respond to the neurotransmitter glutamate. They were first identified as a distinct receptor type through their selective activation by the agonist kainate, a drug first isolated from the algae Digenea simplex. They have been traditionally classified as a non-NMDA-type receptor, along with the AMPA receptor. KARs are less understood than AMPA and NMDA receptors, the other ionotropic glutamate receptors.

NMDA receptor

The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (also known as the NMDA receptor or NMDAR), is a glutamate receptor and ion channel found in neurons. The NMDA receptor is one of three types of ionotropic glutamate receptors, the other two being AMPA and kainate receptors. Depending on its subunit composition, its ligands are glutamate and glycine (or D-serine). However, the binding of the ligands is typically not sufficient to open the channel as it may be blocked by Mg2+ ions which are only removed when the neuron is sufficiently depolarized.

AMPA receptor

The α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (also known as AMPA receptor, AMPAR, or quisqualate receptor) is an ionotropic transmembrane receptor for glutamate (iGluR) that mediates fast synaptic transmission in the central nervous system (CNS). It has been traditionally classified as a non-NMDA-type receptor, along with the kainate receptor. Its name is derived from its ability to be activated by the artificial glutamate analog AMPA.

Ionotropic glutamate receptor

Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) are ligand-gated ion channels that are activated by the neurotransmitter glutamate. They mediate the majority of excitatory synaptic transmission throughout the central nervous system and are key players in synaptic plasticity, which is important for learning and memory. iGluRs have been divided into four subtypes on the basis of their ligand binding properties (pharmacology) and sequence similarity: AMPA receptors, kainate receptors, NMDA receptors and delta receptors (see below).

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