Introduction: Stress is associated with neurological and cognitive disorders. It has been suggested that doxepin, in addition to its influence on the content of neurotransmitters, has probable neuroprotective effects as well. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of doxepin on synaptic plasticity and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene expression in the rat h...

Stress exerts a profound impact on learning and memory, in part, through the actions of adrenal corticosterone (CORT) on synaptic plasticity, a cellular model of learning and memory. Increasing findings suggest that CORT exerts its impact on synaptic plasticity by altering the functional properties of glutamate receptors, which include changes in the motility and function of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5...

Title of Document: MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF SYNAPTIC PLASTICITY IN ADULT MAMMALIAN SENSORY CORTEX Haiyan He, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Directed By: Dr. Elizabeth M Quinlan Department of Biology Experience-dependent changes in synaptic composition and function (synaptic plasticity) underlie many brain functions including learning and memory, formation of sensory maps, as well as the capability t...

Synaptic mechanisms of plasticity are calcium-dependent processes that are affected by dysfunction of mitochondrial calcium buffering. Recently, we observed that mice deficient in mitochondrial voltage-dependent anion channels, the outer component of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, have impairments in learning and hippocampal synaptic plasticity, suggesting that the mitochondria...

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a form of activity dependent plasticity that induced by high-frequency stimulation or theta burst stimulation and results in synaptic transmission. Several Studies have been shown that LTP is one of the most important processes in the CNS that plays an important role in learning and memory formation. Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a major...

Most neurobiologists believe that memories are encoded in the pattern of cortical synaptic strengths, that is, in the effectiveness with which one neuron in the brain communicates with another at each of its synapses. As the human cortex contains about 1014 synapses (100 trillion), a lot of information could be stored. Understanding how memory works is, by general agreement, one of neurobiology...

Long-term synaptic plasticity is a major cellular substrate for learning, memory, and behavioral adaptation. Although early examples of long-term synaptic plasticity described a mechanism by which postsynaptic signal transduction was potentiated, it is now apparent that there is a vast array of mechanisms for long-term synaptic plasticity that involve modifications to either or both the presyna...

Protease activated receptors (PARs) are involved in regulating synaptic transmission and plasticity in the brain. While it is well-accepted that PAR1 mediates long-term potentiation (LTP) of excitatory synaptic strength, the role of PAR2 in synaptic plasticity remains not well-understood. In this study, we assessed the role of PAR2-signaling in plasticity at hippocampal Schaffer collateral-CA1 ...