NEUR3101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Synaptic Plasticity, Thought Experiment, Current Clamp
Document Summary
Definition of synaptic plasticity = an activity-dependent change in synaptic efficacy. Two main properties of the change in synaptic efficacy: Key point: the outcome depends on the previous history of synaptic activity. 3 phases - for both short and long term. Changes in amount of transmitter released by each vesicle. More bang for your buck per vesicle: postsynaptic: Induced by firing a single ap or trains of aps lasting up to a few seconds. Induced by firing repeated trains of aps each lasting a few seconds, or particular patterns of paired stimulation, or prolonged stimuli. Repetitive stimulation causes frequency-dependent changes in synaptic strength. The effects of short-term plasticity can be very large. This history-dependent short-term memory of synapses is called short-term plasticity. Same postsynaptic cells, but the means of input means different forms of stp. Same input, different target, different type of stp. Write something down - remember it for the short term.
