Dynamical questions in volume transmission

Abstract

In volume transmission (or neuromodulation) neurons do not make one-to-one connections to other neurons, but instead simply release neurotransmitter into the extracellular space from numerous varicosities. Many well-known neurotransmitters including serotonin (5HT), dopamine (DA), histamine (HA), Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) and acetylcholine (ACh) participate in volume transmission. Typically, the cell bodies are in one volume and the axons project to a distant volume in the brain releasing the neurotransmitter there. We introduce volume transmission and describe mathematically two natural homeostatic mechanisms. In some brain regions several neurotransmitters in the extracellular space affect each other's release. We investigate the dynamics created by this comodulation in two different cases: serotonin and histamine; and the comodulation of 4 neurotransmitters in the striatum and we compare to experimental data. This kind of comodulation poses new dynamical questions as well as the question of how these biochemical networks influence the electrophysiological networks in the brain.

Keywords:

• Volume transmission
• neuromodulation
• dynamics
• brain
• chemistry
• comodulation

AMS Classifications:

• 34A37
• 37F46
• 92C20
• 92C40

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Parry Hashemi, Imperial College, London, who brought the idea of comodulation to our attention and provided references.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Allison Cruikshank (AC) was supported by National Science Foundation DMS-2038056, a research and training grant (PI Alexander Kiselev, Duke University).