Calcium-based plasticity model explains sensitivity of synaptic changes to spike pattern, rate, and dendritic location.

ABSTRACT: Multiple stimulation protocols have been found to be effective in changing synaptic efficacy by inducing long-term potentiation or depression. In many of those protocols, increases in postsynaptic calcium concentration have been shown to play a crucial role. However, it is still unclear whether and how the dynamics of the postsynaptic calcium alone determine the outcome of synaptic plasticity. Here, we propose a calcium-based model of a synapse in which potentiation and depression are activated above calcium thresholds. We show that this model gives rise to a large diversity of spike timing-dependent plasticity curves, most of which have been observed experimentally in different systems. It accounts quantitatively for plasticity outcomes evoked by protocols involving patterns with variable

SUBMITTER: Graupner M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3309784 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature