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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Dec 27.
Published in final edited form as: Interdiscip Inf Sci. 2015;21(3):225–234. doi: 10.4036/iis.2015.B.07

Figure 5.

Figure 5

Synapse-specific actions of endocannabinoids controlled by glial coverage of synapses. Tonic release of anandamide (AEA) provides a retrograde inhibitory tone on GABA release by activating CB1 receptors specifically at GABA synapses on magnocellular neurons. Release of 2-AG evoked by Ca-dependent signaling retrogradely suppresses glutamate release via CB1 receptor activation specifically at glutamatergic excitatory synapses. Physiological or pathological stimulation leads to retraction of astrocyte processes, which allows 2-AG spillover onto GABA synapses and further suppression of GABA release. Tonic AEA actions are not regulated by glial coverage and are limited to GABA synapses.