Communication theory aspects of synaptic transmission

Biological structures are typically based on molecular communication systems which use a myriad of molecule types to encode messages. Among the cells found in living organisms, interconnected neurons communicate by means of neurotransmitters, particles that serve as physical carriers of information. Owing to information propagation among the nano-scale components, neuronal communication is recently identified as a potential candidate for nano-networking. This paper elaborates on the concept of molecular synaptic transmission between neurons, aiming to give an insight into the performance of physical end-to-end model according to the cell physiology. The synaptic transmission is investigated from several aspects: the transmitter (pre-synaptic terminal), the channel (synaptic cleft), and the receiver (post-synaptic terminal), with a goal to characterize the propagation of the spiking rate function between neurons. Moreover, some ideas on how to incorporate the impact of astrocytic processes to the neuronal communication are presented.