It is widely accepted that the leading presynaptic mechanisms underlying the synaptic plasticity involve changes of the number of neurotransmitter quanta released by one nerve pulse (the quantal content of postsynaptic response) and of the size of a single quantum. In addition, the existence of one more effective though previously ignored mechanism of modulation of synaptic plasticity was suggested related to the change in the time course (kinetics) of secretion of single neurotransmitter quanta forming the multiquantal response. This article reviews current data (including the authors' own results) on the kinetics of evoked neurotransmitter quanta secretion from motor nerve endings in peripheral synapses, mechanisms of their modulation and methods of quantitative analysis.