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Putative Transmitters

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Physiology of the Nervous System

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Abstract

It is now generally agreed that most neurons in the central nervous system communicate with one another by releasing chemical transmitters. Despite arduous efforts, only a few compounds have been identified which can with various degrees of certainty be considered as neurotransmitters. To be identified as a transmitter, a substance should fulfil certain criteria. The main properties to be established are the presence of the substance in the presynaptic terminals and its release during presynaptic activity. Furthermore, there should be a correlation between its release and the amount of presynaptic activity; local administration of the compound should produce the same effect as presynaptic activity and substances antagonistic to the putative transmitter should block synaptic transmission. Actually, none of the compounds generally considered to be transmitters in the central nervous system fulfils all these criteria. Because of the complexity of the central nervous system, it is technically difficult to prove the release of a putative transmitter or to administer it locally at the synapse. The rigorous criteria which are applied to the peripheral system therefore cannot be easily satisfied within the central nervous system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology II, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    David Ottoson

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  1. David Ottoson
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© 1983 D. Ottoson

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Ottoson, D. (1983). Putative Transmitters. In: Physiology of the Nervous System. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16995-5_8

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