Can you say that three times fast? Glumatergic (excitatory) synapses respond to the neurotransmitter glutamate, and GABAergic (inhibitory) synapses respond to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA is formed by decarboxylating glutamate. These are the “workhorse” neurotransmitters in the brain.
Neuroscience grad stduent Marissa Stearns Kuzirian and Assistant Professor of Biology Suzanne Paradis discuss what’s known about how GABAergic synapses form, and the relationships to the previously better-studied formation of glutamergic synapses, in a new review entitled “Emerging themes in GABAergic synapse development” in Progress in Neurobiology.
