Synaptic depression: a key player in the cortical balancing act
Sacha B. Nelson
& Gina G. Turrigiano
Sacha Nelson and Gina Turrigiano are at the Department
of Biology and Center for Complex Systems, MS 8, Brandeis University,
Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, USA
nelson@brandeis.edu and turrigiano@brandeis.edu
What regulates the balance between cortical excitation and inhibition?
Galaretta and Hestrin show that prolonged firing induces a much stronger depression
at excitatory synapses than at inhibitory ones, making the network more stable
and less prone to runaway excitation.
