Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptic Plasticity at Hippocampal and Cortical Synapses

About this Research Topic

Background

One of the most relevant features of the mammalian nervous system, in comparison with other vertebrates, is the remarkable development of the forebrain, which includes the cortical areas and the hippocampal formation. The main functions of these telencephalic structures include the reception of external stimuli, the processing of motor responses, memory, learning, and decision-making skills. Through evolutionary processes, the relative growth of the hippocampus and cerebral cortex has been accompanied by increasing complexity and articulation of the mechanisms of synaptic plasticity. Synaptic plasticity is defined as the ability of a synapse to modify its effectiveness over time, as a consequence of its recruitment and relative participation in the process of synaptic integration that controls neuronal firing.

In the course of past research in neurobiology, cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus and cortical areas have been extensively studied and important advances have been made over the past decades. Many mechanisms, like the involvement of membrane receptors and protein kinases, were found to be relatively conserved in various structures, suggesting the existence of a general molecular language that regulates the reorganization of the synaptic connections in the forebrain neural circuits. Nevertheless, to the extent that research advanced in this topic, the results have depicted an increasingly complex picture, made of multiple interacting and complementary mechanisms, so that new questions have been constantly raised.

The current Research Topic aims to collect research articles and reviews to provide new insights and explanatory models capable of accounting the complexity of the machinery involved in synaptic plasticity at cortical and hippocampal synapses. Specific subtopics include:

• Induction and expression of LTP and LTD
• Spike-timing dependent plasticity
• Hebbian mechanisms of synaptic changes
• Intracellular signaling related to synaptic modification
• Pre-synaptic modification of neurotransmitter release
• Heterosynaptic plasticity
• Homeostatic plasticity
• Plasticity at inhibitory synapses
• Neuromodulation and other processes of synaptic metaplasticity

Keywords: Synaptic plasticity, homeostatic plasticity, Hebbian plasticity, hippocampus, cortex

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