Modulation of neurotransmitter release by cannabinoid receptors at individual cortical synapses

大麻是一种使用非常广泛的毒品，对身心健康有许多有据可查的有害影响。近年来，研究发现，活性成分劫持了神经元之间的一种天然信号传递形式，这种信号传递的方向与大脑中正常的信息流动方向相反：对一个神经元的活动做出反应，信号被送回突触，而突触通常会向同一个神经元释放化学信使。这样做的结果是沟通的力量减弱。这是如何发生的，人们知之甚少。我们已经开发出以前所未有的分辨率检查大麻衍生物和大脑中天然存在的化学物质对单个突触行为的作用的能力。我们希望用这种尖端方法获得的结果将揭示大脑的正常工作和大脑兴奋性障碍，如癫痫，并最终揭示以前未知的药物干预目标。

Cannabis is a very widely used drug, which has many well-documented deleterious effects on mental and physical health. In recent years it has emerged that the active constitutent hijacks a natural form of signalling between neurons, which acts in the opposite direction to the normal flow of information in the brain: in response to activity in one neuron, a signal is sent back to synapses that normally release chemical messengers to that same neuron. The result of this is that the strength of communication is diminished. How this happens is poorly understood. We have developed the ability to examine the actions of both cannabis derivatives and naturally occurring chemicals in the brain on the behaviour of individual synapses at unprecedented resolution. We expect that the results obtained with this cutting-edge methodology will shed light both on the normal workings of the brain, and on disorders of brain excitability such as epilepsy, and ultimately reveal previously unknown targets for pharmacological intervention.