Silent synapses and the emergence of a postsynaptic mechanism for LTP.
Silent synapses abound in the young brain, representing an early step in the pathway of experience-dependent synaptic development. Discovered amidst the debate over whether long-term potentiation reflects a presynaptic or a postsynaptic modification, silent synapses--which in the hippocampal CA1 subfield are characterized by the presence of NMDA receptors but not AMPA receptors--have stirred some mechanistic controversy of their own. Out of this literature has emerged a model for synapse unsilencing that highlights the central role for postsynaptic AMPA-receptor trafficking in the expression of excitatory synaptic plasticity.
Kerchner
Geoffrey A
GA
Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, 600 16th Street, San Francisco, California 94143-2140, USA.
Nicoll
Roger A
RA
D000818:Animals; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*