Glutamate that diffuses out of the synaptic cleft can have actions at distant receptors, a mode of transmission called spillover. Here, the authors find in the cerebellar cortex that glutamate spillover from climbing fibers activates synaptic AMPA receptors of molecular layer interneurons, allowing glutamate from an unconnected pathway to co-opt postsynaptic receptors.
- Reagan L. Pennock
- Luke T. Coddington
- Jacques I. Wadiche