Reconstruction of synaptic geometry and neural connections from serial thick sections examined by the medium high voltage electron microscope

Abstract

The problem of how the nervous system works was tackled first in terms of what the units are, then how the units function in isolation and the general trend now is the progressively more detailed analysis of how they are connected together. At the present time it appears that rapid integration by the nervous system is a consequence of the spatial and temporal summation of synaptic potentials within the anatomical network of neurones. A possible conclusion is that an analysis of any lasting value combines physiological recording with the exact morphology of the pathways of excitation and of the geometry of the synapses in particular.