Access
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
insight
Nature 431, 782-788 (14 October 2004) | doi:10.1038/nature03012; Published online 13 October 2004
review article Cortical rewiring and information storage
D. B. Chklovskii1, B. W. Mel2 & K. Svoboda1,3
Abstract
Current thinking about long-term memory in the cortex is focused on changes in the strengths of connections between neurons. But ongoing structural plasticity in the adult brain, including synapse formation/elimination and remodelling of axons and dendrites, suggests that memory could also depend on learning-induced changes in the cortical 'wiring diagram'. Given that the cortex is sparsely connected, wiring plasticity could provide a substantial boost in storage capacity, although at a cost of more elaborate biological machinery and slower learning.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Neuroscience Neighbourly synapsesNature News and Views (20 Dec 2007)
Neurobiology A moving experienceNature News and Views (20 Apr 2000)
Moving molecules make synapsesNature Neuroscience News and Views (01 Oct 2001)
Maintaining stability in the face of changeNature Neuroscience News and Views (01 Nov 2003)