Background Activity
Another cause of noise is due to the exocytosis of neurotransmitters from the synaptic terminals that provide input to a given neuron. This occurrence happens in the background while a cell is at resting membrane potential. Since it is happening in the background, the release is not due to a signal, but is random. This unpredictability adds to the synaptic noise level.
Synaptic noise shows up as miniature postsynaptic current, which is observed without any presynaptic input. These spontaneous currents are due to randomly released neurotransmitter vesicles. This is caused by the stochastic “opening of intracellular Ca2+ stores, synaptic Ca2+-channel noise, spontaneous triggering of the vesicle-release pathway, or spontaneous fusion of a vesicle with the membrane.”
Read more about this topic: Synaptic Noise, Causes
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