Tetanic stimulation

In neurobiology, a tetanic stimulation consists of a high-frequency sequence of individual stimulations of a neuron. It is associated with potentiation.

High-frequency stimulation causes an increase in release called post-tetanic potentiation (Kandel 2003). This presynaptic event is caused by calcium influx. Calcium-protein interactions then produce a change in vesicle exocytosis. The result of these changes is to make the postsynaptic cell more likely to fire an action potential.