Journal
MOLECULAR NEUROBIOLOGY
Volume 29, Issue 2, Pages 117-130Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1385/MN:29:2:117
Keywords
dendritic spines; synapse; experience; plasticity; hippocampus; NMDA
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Funding
- NIMH NIH HHS [F31 MH063568-02, MH63568, R01 MH059970-03, R01 MH059970-04, R01 MH059970-02, F31 MH063568] Funding Source: Medline
- PHS HHS [R01-59970] Funding Source: Medline
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For more than a century dendritic spines have been a source of fascination and speculation. The long-held belief that these anatomical structures are involved in learning and memory are addressed. Specifically, two lines of evidence that support this claim are reviewed. In the first, we review evidence that experimental manipulations that affect dendritic spine number in the hippocampus also affect learning processes of various sorts. In the second, we review evidence that learning itself affects the presence of dendritic spines in the hippocampus. Based on these observations, we propose that the presence of spines enhances synaptic efficacy and thereby the excitability of the network involved in the learning process. With this scheme, learning is not dependent on changes in spine density but rather changes in the presence of dendritic spines provide anatomical support for the processing of novel information used in memory formation.
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