medical Definition of autoreceptor
: a receptor present on the surface of a nerve cell that responds to a neurotransmitter released from the same nerve cell it is located on
- When an autoreceptor becomes bound by neurotransmitter molecules in the synapse, the receptors signal the cell to reduce its firing rate and thus its release of the transmitter.
- —Charles B. Nemeroff, Scientific American, June 1998
