title: Clustered structural and functional plasticity of dendritic spines.
abstract: The configuration of synaptic circuits underlies their ability to process and store information. Research on dendritic spines has revealed that their structural and functional alterations are clustered along the parent dendrite. Here we review the evidence supporting such notion of clustered synaptic plasticity, discuss its functional implications and possible contributing factors, and suggest potential strategies to deal with open challenges.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. Electronic address: jlu39@ucsc.edu.
authors.forename: Ju
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. Electronic address: yizuo@ucsc.edu.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zuo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Clustered plasticity; Dendritic spine; Neural circuit; Structural dynamics; Synapse