In testing synaptic transmission, you found that there were 300 failures in 1000 trails of stimulating a presynaptic neuron. The average EPSP size was .7 mV +/- .2mV (mean +/- SD), and the average 'mini' EPSP size was .6mV +/- .1mV. Does the synapse obey Poisson statistics? Explain your answer.
To determine if the synapse obeys Poisson statistics, we need to consider a few factors.
Poisson statistics revolve around the concept of random events occurring at a constant rate. In this case, we can think of the failures in synaptic transmission as the random events.
First, we need to calculate the average failure rate per trial. We can do this by dividing the total number of failures (300) by the total number of trials (1000). The failure rate per trial would be 300/1000 = 0.3.
Next, we need to determine if the average failure rate is similar to the standard deviation (SD) of the EPSP size or the 'mini' EPSP size. Let's consider both cases:
1. If the average failure rate (0.3) is close to the standard deviation of the EPSP size (0.2mV), then it suggests that the failures are occurring randomly and independently from trial to trial. This means that the synapse may follow Poisson statistics.
2. However, if the average failure rate is close to the standard deviation of the 'mini' EPSP size (0.1mV), then it suggests that the failures occur more systematically and are influenced by the size of the EPSPs. In this case, the synapse may not follow Poisson statistics.
To determine which case is more likely, we need to compare the average failure rate with the corresponding standard deviation. If the standard deviation is significantly larger than the average failure rate, it suggests that the failures are random and independent.
However, without knowing the actual values of the standard deviation and the average failure rate, we cannot make a definitive conclusion. Please provide the numerical values for the average failure rate, SD of EPSP size, and SD of 'mini' EPSP size if you have them, to determine whether the synapse obeys Poisson statistics.