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DOI: 10.1177/1073858405281898
The Control of Neuromuscular Transmission in Health and DiseaseDepartment of Neuroscience, Cell Biology and Physiology, Wright State University, Dayton, OH Multiple techniques are available to study failure of neuromuscular transmission. Electrophysiological techniques used in patients are well suited to detect failure of neuromuscular transmission; however, these methods offer little insight into the mechanisms underlying failure of transmission. More detailed techniques that are better suited for studying the underlying mechanisms can be performed in animal models of neuromuscular disease. However, it is often difficult to compare studies using different techniques to measure neuromuscular transmission. In this review, I discuss different techniques that are available to study failure of neuromuscular transmission. The strengths and weaknesses of various techniques are compared using several diseases as examples. The review concludes with a discussion of mechanisms that may contribute to failure of neuromuscular transmission during repetitive stimulation.
Key Words: Neuromuscular junction Myasthenia gravis Motor neuron disease Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome Synaptic transmission Neuronal plasticity
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