title: Synaptic Signaling in Learning and Memory.
abstract: Learning and memory require the formation of new neural networks in the brain. A key mechanism underlying this process is synaptic plasticity at excitatory synapses, which connect neurons into networks. Excitatory synaptic transmission happens when glutamate, the excitatory neurotransmitter, activates receptors on the postsynaptic neuron. Synaptic plasticity is a higher-level process in which the strength of excitatory synapses is altered in response to the pattern of activity at the synapse. It is initiated in the postsynaptic compartment, where the precise pattern of influx of calcium through activated glutamate receptors leads either to the addition of new receptors and enlargement of the synapse (long-term potentiation) or the removal of receptors and shrinkage of the synapse (long-term depression). Calcium/calmodulin-regulated enzymes and small GTPases collaborate to control this highly tuned mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125.
authors.forename: Mary B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Kennedy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D018091:Receptors, AMPA / Q000378:metabolism; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
chemical_list: D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; D018091:Receptors, AMPA; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases