This volume is based on a workshop "Modulation of Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity in Nervous Systems" held in n Ciocco, Castelvecchio, Pascoli, Italy, from September 8th to 13th, 1987. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together scientists working on plasticity in nervous systems on different levels. The contributions can be subgrouped into six fields of research: 1) Presynaptic Modulation of Chemical Neurotransmission 2) Postsynaptic Signal Transduction 3) Modulation of Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity in the Hippocampus 4) Modulation of Neuromuscular Transmission 5) Molecular and Cellular Analysis of Conditioning in Marine Snails 6) Analysis of Learning and Memory in Insects Understanding how nervous systems and in particular our brain processes and stores information has been a major challenge in science for centuries and will remain for some time to come. Not until recently neurobiologists agreed to seek plasticity of behavior primarily in the modulation of the properties of synapses between nerve cells. This is to be understood within the context provided by a neural circuitry. An important stimulus came from the work on the marine snail Aplysia, where learning processes can be described as a modulation of transmitter release, traced back to a complete chain of molecular events in an identified neuron. Learning became a topic of molecular biology. Three systems appear particularly promising for this approach: insects, in particular Drosophila, marine snails and the mammalian hippocampal tissue. Our views on neurotransmission have rapidly changed.

Inhalt

Presynaptic modulation of chemical neurotransmission: The blood vessel paradigm.- Modulation of purine release from electrically-stimulated cortical slices of the rat: Interaction with the cholinergic system.- Modulation of glutamate and GAB A release by excitatory amino acid receptor agonists in cultured cerebellar cells.- Serotonin-glutamate interactions in rat cerebellum: Involvement of multiple 5-HT receptor subtypes.- Modulation of transmitter release by presynaptic serotonin receptors.- Opioid peptides, opioid receptors and modulation of catecholaminergic neurotransmission processes in the central nervous system.- Noradrenergic modulation of acetylcholine release.- Control of acetylcholine release and of intestinal motility by subtypes of muscarine receptors.- Cholinergic-adrenergic presynaptic interactions on the heart in the millisecond range as studied with the pulse-to-pulse method.- New aspects on modulation of sympathetic neurotransmission: By change of probability of secretion of single mixed quanta from two classes of nerve varicosities.- Participation of regulatory G-proteins and protein kinase C in the modulation of transmitter release in hippocampus.- Attempts to characterise dopamine receptor-effector mechanisms in the brain.- Postsynaptic signal transduction in neuroblastoma and ganglion cells: Receptor-mediated control of K-currents.- Neurotransmitters, ion channels and second messengers in the hippocampus.- A family of neurotransmitter receptors couple to a potassium conductance.- Induction and maintenance of long-term potentiation in the hippocampus.- Initiation of long-term potentiation: Dependency on parameters of stimulation and external calcium.- The role of protein phosphorylation in long-term potentiation.- A possible role for ependymin in hippocampal plasticity.- Modulation of quantal synaptic release by serotonin and forskolin in crayfish motor nerve terminals.- Neurotransmitter-induced regulation of voltage-dependent calcium current in identified snail neurons.- Neural and molecular mechanisms of short- and long-term sensitization in Aplysia.- Modulation of neuromuscular transmission in the locust by FMRFamide-like peptides.- Constancy and plasticity in the operation of the motor control system for locust flight.- Neuropharmacology of learning and memory in honey bees.- Habituation of the landing response of Drosophila.- Habituation and sensitization of the landing response of Drosophila melanogaster: II. Receptive field size of habituating units.- Molecular aspects of plasticity in phototaxis.- On the road to a better understanding of learning and memory in Drosophila melanogaster.- Short-term persistence of sexual arousal in Drosophila melanogaster males: Contrasting behavioural expression in two wild-type strains.- Gene strategy in the modulation of synaptic activity.- List of Participants.