Plasticity is a fundamental property of neuronal circuits, allowing them to adapt alterations in activation. Generally speaking, plasticity has been viewed from ‘neuron-centric’ perspective, with changes circuit function attributed excitability, synaptic strength or connectivity. However, it now clear that glial cells, particular astrocytes, are key regulators plasticity. This article reviews r...

Horizontal connections in superficial cortical layers integrate information across sensory maps by connecting related functional columns. It has been hypothesized that these connections mediate cortical reorganization via synaptic plasticity. However, it is not known if the horizontal connections from discontinuous cortical regions can undergo plasticity in the adult. Here we located the border...

Activity-dependent synaptic plasticity is critical for cortical circuit refinement. The synaptic homeostasis hypothesis suggests that synaptic connections are strengthened during wake and downscaled during sleep; however, it is not obvious how the same plasticity rules could explain both outcomes. Using whole-cell recordings and optogenetic stimulation of presynaptic input in urethane-anestheti...

In neuroscience, learning and memory are usually associated with long-term changes in neuronal connectivity. this context, synaptic plasticity refers to the set of mechanisms driving dynamic...

In this paper, we review experimental evidence for a novel form of persistent synaptic plasticity we call metaplasticity. Metaplasticity is induced by synaptic or cellular activity, but it is not necessarily expressed as a change in the efficacy of normal synaptic transmission. Instead, it is manifest as a change in the ability to induce subsequent synaptic plasticity, such as long-term potenti...

It is clear that de novo protein synthesis has an important function in synaptic transmission and plasticity. A substantial amount of work has shown that mRNA translation in the hippocampus is spatially controlled and that dendritic protein synthesis is required for different forms of long-term synaptic plasticity. More recently, several studies have highlighted a function for protein degradati...

Activity-dependent synaptic plasticity is widely accepted to be the cellular correlate of learning and memory. It is believed that associativity between different synaptic inputs can transform short-lasting forms of synaptic plasticity (<3 h) to long-lasting ones. Synaptic tagging and capture (STC) might be able to explain this heterosynaptic support, because it distinguishes between local mech...

Synaptic plasticity alters the strength of information flow between presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons and thus modifies the likelihood that action potentials in a presynaptic neuron will lead to an action potential in a postsynaptic neuron. As such, synaptic plasticity and pathological changes in synaptic plasticity impact the synaptic computation which controls the information flow through ...

Objective(s): To illuminate the functional effects of allicin on rats with cognitive deficits induced by tunicamycin (TM) and the molecular mechanism of this process. Materials and Methods: 200–250 g male SD rats were divided into three groups at random: control group (n=12), TM group (5 μl, 50 μM, i.c.v, n=12), and allicin treatment group (180 mg/kg/d with chow diet, n=12). After 16 weeks of a...