Thomas C. Sudhof is a recognized authority at Stanford University who has extensively investigated synaptic transmission. In October 2013 he had an article published in Nature Medicine, Vol. 19, No. 10 entitled “A Molecular Machine for Neurotransmitter Release: Synaptotagmin and Beyond.” I refer the interested reader to this particular article since it includes excellent illustrations of the elaborate molecular machine that governs the release of neural transmitters into the synaptic cleft, specifically the fusion of docked synaptic vesicles to the presynaptic membrane and the subsequent opening of pores through which synaptic transmitters are released into the cleft. The machines reflect a complex, elaborate and coordinated molecular activity in which design has been instantiated for specific function, namely the transmission of specified information encoded within spike trains of action potentials through synaptic networks. I am including below an excerpt from his article that summarizes the mechanism of synaptic vesicular release. By reading this information it is my hope that it will lead to the reading of his entire article.
“We now know of a general mechanism of membrane fusion that operates by the interaction of SNAREs [for soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF)-attachment protein receptors] and SM proteins (for Sec1/Munc18-like proteins). We also have now a general mechanism of calcium-triggered fusion that operates by calcium binding to synaptotagmins, plus a general mechanism of vesicular positioning adjacent to calcium channels, which involves the interaction of the so-called RIM proteins with these channels and synaptic vesicles. Thus, a molecular framework that accounts for the astounding speed and precision of neurotransmitter release has emerged.”
Yes, the mechanism is most complex, and much still needs to be worked out. Progress is being made in understanding how immaterial wave forms interact with these machines through quantum tunneling to transmit information by which actions happen. I will be posting more information that speaks to this process.