Neural facilitation

The facilitation is a term used in neurophysiology. He describes the phenomenon that repeated stimulation of certain nerve pathways increases the efficiency of stimuli of equal strength or excitation of these nerves web is already enabled on due to weaker stimuli ( see also: summation and long-term potentiation ).

The term goes back to Sigmund Freud, who introduced him as follows: " There are so permeable ( no resisting and nothing retenierende ) neurons, which serve to perception, and impermeable ( resistive [ ...]) neurons, the carriers of the memory, so probably of psychical processes are in general. [ ...] [ memory neurons ] are changed by the excitation sequence continuously [ ... ] [,] their contact barriers fall into a permanent altered state. [ ...] [ This ] change [ ... ] must be that the contact barrier line capable, less be impermeable, ie those of the [ perceptual system ] [... ] similar. this state of the contact barriers, we will refer to as degree of facilitation ".

Spatial and temporal facilitation

In the observation of a single nerve cell differentiation is made between spatial and temporal facilitation. Under spatial facilitation simultaneous stimulation of a synapse at spatially different from each other afferents, ie different synapses of a nerve cell is defined. Under temporal facilitation is defined as a relatively rapid succession at intervals of about 4 ms of so-called repetitive individual stimuli on the same afferent synapses. These stimuli thus take place within the decay of the excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP ). In the case of a resulting facilitation a corresponding nerve cell is depolarized. This is taken due to the conceptual model of a summation of each on its own individual stimuli subliminal course. Subliminal individual stimuli do not cause depolarization of the nerve cell.

More complex applications of the concept

Facilitation is used as a neurophysiological concept also has application in the consideration of complex phenomena from brain science, psychophysics, physiology and behavior of social psychology.