Estimates of the amount of neuromuscular transmitter released by motor nerve terminals at different temperatures in the Antarctic fish Pagothenia borchgrevinki

The number of quantal doses of acetylcholine released by a nerve to activate a muscle can be estimated by recording repeated responses (end plate potentials of EPPs) to nerve stimulation and calculating mean EPP amplitude and variance. Evoked EPPS were recorded over a range of temperatures (-2°C to 12°C) and was used to estimate the amount of neuromuscular transmitter released by motor nerve terminals by calculating the synaptic quantal number (number of synchronous miniature end plate currents) and its variation over a range of temperatures.