More often than not, action potentials fail to trigger neurotransmitter release. And even when neurotransmitter is released, the resulting change in synaptic conductance is highly variable. Given the energetic cost of generating and propagating action potentials, and the importance of information transmission across synapses, this seems both wasteful and inefficient. However, synaptic noise arising from variable transmission can improve, in certain restricted conditions, information transmission. Under broader conditions, it can improve information transmission per release, a quantity that is relevant given the energetic constraints on computing in the brain. Here we discuss the role, both positive and negative, synaptic noise plays in information transmission and computation in the brain.

中文翻译：

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嘈杂的突触电导：错误还是功能？

通常情况下，动作电位无法触发神经递质释放。甚至当神经递质被释放时，由此产生的突触电导变化也是高度可变的。鉴于产生和传播动作电位的能量成本，以及跨突触信息传输的重要性，这似乎既浪费又低效。然而，在某些受限条件下，可变传输产生的突触噪声可以改善信息传输。在更广泛的条件下，它可以改善每次释放的信息传输，考虑到大脑计算的能量限制，这个数量是相关的。在这里，我们讨论了突触噪声在大脑中的信息传输和计算中所起的积极和消极作用。