Neurotransmission also called synaptic transmission, is the process by which signaling molecules called neurotransmitters are released by a neuron (the presynaptic neuron), and bind to and activate the receptors of another neuron (the postsynaptic neuron). Neurotransmission is essential for the process of communication between two neurons.
In 1921, an Austrian scientist named Otto Loewi discovered the first neurotransmitter. In his experiment he used two frog hearts. One heart (heart #1) was still connected to the vagus nerve. Heart #1 was placed in a chamber that was filled with saline. This chamber was connected to a second chamber that contained heart #2. So, fluid from chamber #1 was allowed to flow into chamber #2.
Electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve (which was attached to heart #1) caused heart #1 to slow down. Loewi also observed that after a delay, heart #2 also slowed down. From this experiment, Loewi hypothesized that electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve released a chemical into the fluid of chamber #1 that flowed into chamber #2. He called this chemical "Vagusstoff". We now know this chemical as the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine.
The Chemical Transmission of Nerve Action - Read & Learn:http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1936/loewi-lecture.html
Neurons, Synapses, Action Potentials, and Neurotransmission - Read & Learn:http://www.mind.ilstu.edu/curriculum/neurons_intro/neurons_intro.php
In 1921, an Austrian scientist named Otto Loewi discovered the first neurotransmitter. In his experiment he used two frog hearts. One heart (heart #1) was still connected to the vagus nerve. Heart #1 was placed in a chamber that was filled with saline. This chamber was connected to a second chamber that contained heart #2. So, fluid from chamber #1 was allowed to flow into chamber #2.
Electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve (which was attached to heart #1) caused heart #1 to slow down. Loewi also observed that after a delay, heart #2 also slowed down. From this experiment, Loewi hypothesized that electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve released a chemical into the fluid of chamber #1 that flowed into chamber #2. He called this chemical "Vagusstoff". We now know this chemical as the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine.
The Chemical Transmission of Nerve Action - Read & Learn:http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1936/loewi-lecture.html
Neurons, Synapses, Action Potentials, and Neurotransmission - Read & Learn:http://www.mind.ilstu.edu/curriculum/neurons_intro/neurons_intro.php
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