Editing Excitatory postsynaptic potential (section)

==Miniature EPSPs and quantal analysis==
The release of [[synaptic vesicle|neurotransmitter vesicles]] from the presynaptic cell is probabilistic. In fact, even without stimulation of the presynaptic cell, a single vesicle will occasionally be released into the synapse, generating miniature EPSPs 
(mEPSPs). [[Bernard Katz]] pioneered the study of these mEPSPs at the [[neuromuscular junction]] (often called miniature end-plate potentials<ref>Functionally, mEPSPs and miniature end-plate potentials (mEPPs) are identical. The name ''end-plate potential'' is used since Katz's studies were performed on the [[neuromuscular junction]], the [[muscle fiber]] component of which is commonly called the ''[[motor end-plate]]''.</ref>) in 1951, revealing the [[quantal]] nature of [[synaptic transmission]]. ''Quantal size'' can then be defined as the synaptic response to the release of neurotransmitter from a single vesicle, while ''quantal content'' is the number of effective vesicles released in response to a nerve impulse.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}  ''Quantal analysis'' refers to the methods used to deduce, for a particular synapse, how many quanta of transmitter are released and what the average effect of each quantum is on the target cell, measured in terms of amount of ions flowing (charge) or change in the membrane potential.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/bauer/2002/jack.html |title=2001-2002 M.R. Bauer Foundation Colloquium Series |publisher=Bio.brandeis.edu |access-date=2014-01-22}}</ref>