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Memory formation depends on both synapse-specific modifications of synaptic strength and cell-specific increases in excitability

Nature Neuroscience volume 21, pages 309–314 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

The modification of synaptic strength produced by long-term potentiation (LTP) is widely thought to underlie memory storage. Indeed, given that hippocampal pyramidal neurons have >10,000 independently modifiable synapses, the potential for information storage by synaptic modification is enormous. However, recent work suggests that CREB-mediated global changes in neuronal excitability also play a critical role in memory formation. Because these global changes have a modest capacity for information storage compared with that of synaptic plasticity, their importance for memory function has been unclear. Here we review the newly emerging evidence for CREB-dependent control of excitability and discuss two possible mechanisms. First, the CREB-dependent transient change in neuronal excitability performs a memory-allocation function ensuring that memory is stored in ways that facilitate effective linking of events with temporal proximity (hours). Second, these changes may promote cell-assembly formation during the memory-consolidation phase. It has been unclear whether such global excitability changes and local synaptic mechanisms are complementary. Here we argue that the two mechanisms can work together to promote useful memory function.

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Fig. 1: CREB increases neuronal excitability.
Fig. 2: Allocate-to-link hypothesis.
Fig. 3: CREB-dependent enhancement of excitability is controlled both by dendritic LTP events and by somatic spiking, an enhancement that facilitates ensemble formation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NIH (grants U01NS090583, R56NS096710, R01DA043195, R01NS103168, U19NS104590, and NSF IOS-1526941 to J.L.; grants 2RF1AG013622-21 and R01MH113071 to A.J.S.) and the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation (to A.J.S.).

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  1. Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA

    John Lisman, Katherine Cooper & Alcino J. Silva

  2. Department of Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Integrative Center for Learning and Memory, and Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Megha Sehgal & Alcino J. Silva

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Lisman, J., Cooper, K., Sehgal, M. et al. Memory formation depends on both synapse-specific modifications of synaptic strength and cell-specific increases in excitability. Nat Neurosci 21, 309–314 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-018-0076-6

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