On Wed, 30 Jan 2002 12:25:51 -0800, "Rich Cooper"
<richcooper1 at mindspring.com> wrote:
>Each action potential is an impulse of about 1 ms duration, but there
>is some theorizing that perhaps the molecule that crosses the synaptic
>gap may have a message that depends on its specific structure.
That might be plausible if the neuron made neurotransmitter molecules as
needed. They could then conceivably tailor each molecule to suit. But
the molecules being released as you read this may have been made hours
ago. Neurotransmitters (NTs) are transported out of the synapses after
release and end up back in vesicles for re-use. AFAIK there is no
mechanism that could segregate molecules into different variants and
convey them to specific vesicles. Indeed, vesicles may contain more than
one NT all of which get deposited into the synaptic gap when the vesicle
opens.
Ian