{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.0009380863039399625, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0375234521575985, 'mean_word_length': 5.883870967741935, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY IN THE BRAIN: STUDYING HOW COMPONENTS OF THE ACTION POTENTIAL WAVEFORM MODULATE NEUROTRANSMISSION

ii Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 Synaptic TransmissionHow the Brain Communicates 3 Chemical Synapse Function 5 Electrophysiology and the Study of Excitable Membranes 9 Patch Clamp Recording 13 The Calyx of Held 20 Function in the Auditory Pathway 20 Role as a Model Synapse 23 The Action Potential Waveform and Calcium Channels 28 Why Studying Modulation of the Action Potential Waveform is Important 37 Experimental Setup and Methods 41 Brain Slice Preparation 41 Microscopy and Brain Slice Handling 43 Electrophysiology 46 Patch Optimization and Rejection Criteria 53 Stimulus Protocols and Data Analysis 57 Results and Discussion 60 Investigating calcium activity by modulating the action potential waveform 60 Studying the effect of the afterdepolarization on calcium activity 71 Understanding the correlation between stimulus properties and calcium channel inactivation 86 Conclusions and Future Work 93 Reference 96