For his outstanding research on synaptic transmission in the mammalian brain, Prof. Peter Jonas (Institute of Physiology, Freiburg) recently received the Leibniz award of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The Leibniz Prize, valued 1.55 million €, is the most prestigious research award in Germany. Part of the work is being done within the recently founded Bernstein Center for Computational Ne...

Synaptic transmission throughout most of the CNS is steeply dependent on presynaptic calcium influx through the voltage-gated calcium channels Cav2.1-Cav2.3. In addition to triggering exocytosis, this calcium influx also recruits short-term synaptic plasticity. During the complex patterns of presynaptic activity that occur in vivo, several forms of plasticity combine to generate a synaptic outp...