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. 2014 Sep 17;8:292. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2014.00292

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Copyright © 2014 Oikonomou, Singh, Sterjanaj and Antic.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Physical aspects of glutamatergic transmission in spiny and aspiny neurons. (A) Dendritic spines increase the receptive area for impinging axons, resulting in a greater density of synaptic contacts in spiny neurons compared to aspiny neurons. For the same reason (increased receptive area), the total number of NMDA receptors per unit length is also greater in spiny neurons. Synaptic NMDA receptors are activated during all modes of synaptic transmission. Extrasynaptic NMDA receptors, on the other hand, are mostly activated by glutamate spillover during barrages of (repetitive) synaptic inputs. (B) If glutamate breaches the distance between synaptic cleft (synaptic) and the surface of the dendritic shaft (extrasynaptic), then subthreshold potential (EPSP) converts into a suprathreshold potential (Plateau Potential). Arrow points to an extrasynaptic NMDA receptor.