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Synaptic plasticity is the biological process by which specific patterns of synaptic activity result in changes in synaptic strength and is thought to contribute to learning and memory. Both pre-synaptic and post-synaptic mechanisms can contribute to the expression of synaptic plasticity.
Combining connectomics, physiology and behavior, this study shows how the cerebellum decides when to learn. Synchronized climbing-fiber error signals lift an inhibitory signal gate on Purkinje cells, enabling synaptic plasticity and motor adaptation.
In this study, the authors find that SHANK3’s large intrinsically disordered region mediates phase separation to support postsynaptic density remodeling during long-term potentiation, providing an insight into how autism spectrum disorder-linked SHANK3 mutations disrupt synaptic plasticity.
In mice, female aggression is governed by an amygdala–to–medial hypothalamus circuit that is strengthened during pregnancy and is dynamically amplified by oxytocin during lactation.
Connectomics has so far outpaced the Moore’s law predictions about technological progress. At this pace, many whole-brain connectomes and connectomic screening will soon be realistic.
A modified looming paradigm teases apart how top-down cortical inputs from visual areas can override instinctive fear responses in mice via an endocannabinoid-mediated inhibitory plasticity mechanism in subcortical circuits.
A study reports that in the mouse hippocampus, the induction of long-term potentiation is dependent on the structural functions of CaMKII and not its enzymatic activity.
