> > Depends entirely on the type of synapse it forms.
> >
> > So what kind DO they form?
>> The same kind as the other synapses from that axon: glutamatergic in the
> case of 80% of cortical neurons, GABAergic in the case of the remainder
> (loosely speaking).
The relative percentages are relevant if you assume that the occurrence of
autaptic synapses is uniform throughout. If this is a general type of
connection, then this may be a safe assumption. But it seems to me like
this kind of connection can have significant implications. So do you know
of any kind of specialized functions that these types of connections are
known to mediate?
> The former is excitatory and would cause the neuron
> to experience positive feedback to some extent; the latter are
> inhibitory and would cause some degree of negatiive feedback.
>> For the GABAergic neurons the picture is complicated by electrotonic
> connections between large numbers of these cells, which act in a
> frequency-dependent, weakly excitatory fashion.
I'm sorry, I don't follow that last line...