Structural dynamics of dendritic spines in memory and cognition.
Recent studies show that dendritic spines are dynamic structures. Their rapid creation, destruction and shape-changing are essential for short- and long-term plasticity at excitatory synapses on pyramidal neurons in the cerebral cortex. The onset of long-term potentiation, spine-volume growth and an increase in receptor trafficking are coincident, enabling a 'functional readout' of spine structure that links the age, size, strength and lifetime of a synapse. Spine dynamics are also implicated in long-term memory and cognition: intrinsic fluctuations in volume can explain synapse maintenance over long periods, and rapid, activity-triggered plasticity can relate directly to cognitive processes. Thus, spine dynamics are cellular phenomena with important implications for cognition and memory. Furthermore, impaired spine dynamics can cause psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Kasai
Haruo
H
Laboratory of Structural Physiology, Center for Disease Biology and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, and Center for NanoBio Integration, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. hkasai@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Fukuda
Masahiro
M
Watanabe
Satoshi
S
Hayashi-Takagi
Akiko
A
Noguchi
Jun
J
D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter / Q000378:metabolism; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology
D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter