Calyx of Held nervous system has allowed for direct research within a mammalian model and the large size increases the ease of electrophysiological recording. For these reasons it has been popular in understanding transmitter release. Specifically, the calyx of Held is used because of: Calyx of Held The Calyx of Held is a particularly large synapse in the mammalian auditory central nervous system, so named by Hans Held in his 1893 article "Die centrale Gehörleitung" because of its resemblance to the calyx of a flower. Globular bushy cells in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) send axons to the contralateral medial nucleus of the
Calyx of Held principal neuron with a distinct morphology: branching of the calyx allows the creation of second- and third-order networks. Each branch establishes a connection with the principal neuron, establishing a large number of active zones. This is unusual for synaptic terminals in the brain, as most create a single active zone. Each calyx contains anywhere from 300 to 700 active zones, and in each of the active zones there are about 100 glutamate-containing vesicles with about 3 docked vesicles at a time. These vesicles are large, consistent with the findings regarding quantal size in other adult synapses. Dense-core vesicles, usually containing