Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 108, Issue 2, Pages 816-821Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1017914108
Keywords
AMPA receptors; GluA2-lacking receptors; spines
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health
- National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
- Heart and Stroke Foundation Center
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Both theoretical and experimental research has indicated that the synaptic strength between neurons in a network needs to be properly fine-tuned and controlled by homeostatic mechanisms to ensure proper network function. One such mechanism that has been extensively characterized is synaptic homeostatic plasticity or global synaptic scaling. This mechanism refers to the bidirectional ability of all synapses impinging on a neuron to actively compensate for changes in the neuron's overall excitability. Here, using a combination of electrophysiological, two-photon glutamate uncaging and imaging methods, we show that mature individual synapses, independent of neighboring synapses, have the ability to autonomously sense their level of activity and actively compensate for it in a homeostatic-like fashion. This synapse-specific homeostatic plasticity, similar to global synaptic plasticity, requires the immediate early gene Arc. Together, our results document an extra level of regulation of synaptic function that bears important computational consequences on information storage in the brain.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available