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Neurobiology

Pull out the stops for plasticity

Nature volume 529, pages 164–165 (2016)Cite this article

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The strength of synaptic connections between neurons needs to be variable, but not too much so. Evidence now indicates that regulation of such synaptic plasticity involves a complex cascade of feedback loops.

Learning is thought to manifest in the brain as physical changes that alter the strength of neuronal contact points called synapses. These contact points allow information to be transmitted from one neuron to another, and understanding the conditions that cause synapses to change strength (a phenomenon known as synaptic plasticity) has been a focus of neuroscience research for many years. Writing in Nature Communications, Tigaret et al.1 challenge the prevailing idea that the local concentration of calcium ions (Ca2+) is the key factor that determines whether a synapse becomes stronger or weaker after repetitive activation. They propose that plasticity involves an intracellular signalling cascade that overrides a safety mechanism. This suggests that the default state of the synapse is not to be plastic.

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Figure 1: The promotion of plasticity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Christine E. Gee and Thomas G. Oertner are at the Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg (ZMNH), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany.,

    Christine E. Gee & Thomas G. Oertner

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  1. Christine E. Gee
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  2. Thomas G. Oertner
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Correspondence to Thomas G. Oertner.

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Gee, C., Oertner, T. Pull out the stops for plasticity. Nature 529, 164–165 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/529164a

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