A synapse which can switch from inhibitory to excitatory and back

Co-release of transmitters has recently been observed at synapse terminals and can even be a combination such as glutamate and GABA. A second recent experimental finding is a short-term synaptic plasticity, which depends on postsynaptic depolarization releasing a dendritic transmitter, which affects presynaptic release probability. In this work we are investigating the functional consequences for a synapse if it had both co-release and conditioning depression. If initially the GABA component is larger than the glutamate component, the synapse has an inhibitory net effect. However, if the postsynaptic cell is conditioned, the GABA component will be suppressed yielding an excitatory synapse.