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Related Concept Videos

Long-term Potentiation01:35

Long-term Potentiation

Long-term potentiation, or LTP, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTP is the process of synaptic strengthening that occurs over time between pre- and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic strengthening of LTP works in opposition to the synaptic weakening of long-term depression (LTD) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
Long-term Depression01:05

Long-term Depression

Long-term depression, or LTD, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTD is the process of synaptic weakening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic weakening of LTD works in opposition to synaptic strengthening by long-term potentiation (LTP) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
Long-term Potentiation01:25

Long-term Potentiation

Long-term potentiation, or LTP, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTP is the process of synaptic strengthening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic strengthening of LTP works in opposition to the synaptic weakening of long-term depression (LTD) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when presynaptic neurons...
Long-term Depression01:03

Long-term Depression

Long-term depression, or LTD, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTD is the process of synaptic weakening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic weakening of LTD works in opposition to synaptic strengthening by long-term potentiation (LTP) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
Calcium Ion Concentration Mechanism
If over time, all...
Integration of Synaptic Events01:28

Integration of Synaptic Events

Synaptic integration mainly includes the summation of graded potentials. Graded potentials, regardless of their type, cause subtle alterations in membrane voltage, resulting in either depolarization or hyperpolarization. These incremental changes, when combined or summed, can propel the neuron toward its threshold. Consider, for example, a membrane experiencing a +15 mV shift, causing it to depolarize from -70 mV to -55 mV. In this scenario, graded potentials govern the membrane's ability to...
Neuroplasticity01:01

Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity reflects the brain's remarkable capacity to adapt and evolve, responding dynamically to learning, experiences, or injury by reorganizing its neural circuitry. This reorganization involves creating new neural connections and refining old ones through a series of biological processes that contribute to the brain's lifelong development and adaptability.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 7, 2026

Two-photon Calcium Imaging in Neuronal Dendrites in Brain Slices
10:35

Two-photon Calcium Imaging in Neuronal Dendrites in Brain Slices

Published on: March 15, 2018

Spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity depends on dendritic location.

Robert C Froemke1, Mu-Ming Poo, Yang Dan

  • 1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3200, USA.

Nature
|March 11, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Synaptic modification in cortical neurons is location-dependent. This study reveals that spike-timing-dependent plasticity varies along dendrites, impacting how neurons process information and select inputs.

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Last Updated: May 7, 2026

Two-photon Calcium Imaging in Neuronal Dendrites in Brain Slices
10:35

Two-photon Calcium Imaging in Neuronal Dendrites in Brain Slices

Published on: March 15, 2018

3D Modeling of Dendritic Spines with Synaptic Plasticity
07:13

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Published on: May 18, 2020

Ex Vivo Optogenetic Interrogation of Long-Range Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity from Medial Prefrontal Cortex to Lateral Entorhinal Cortex
11:31

Ex Vivo Optogenetic Interrogation of Long-Range Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity from Medial Prefrontal Cortex to Lateral Entorhinal Cortex

Published on: February 25, 2022

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cellular Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience

Background:

  • Neurons receive thousands of synaptic inputs on their dendritic trees.
  • Postsynaptic processing is known to be dendritically location-dependent.
  • The location-dependence of activity-dependent synaptic modification remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether activity-dependent synaptic modification, specifically spike-timing-dependent plasticity, varies with dendritic location in rat cortical layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons.
  • To elucidate the role of NMDA receptors in location-dependent synaptic modification.

Main Methods:

  • Electrophysiological recordings from rat cortical layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons.
  • Induction of spike-timing-dependent plasticity at different dendritic locations.
  • Pharmacological manipulation of NMDA receptors.
  • Computer simulations of synaptic plasticity and neuronal computation.

Main Results:

  • Both magnitude and temporal specificity of spike-timing-dependent synaptic modification vary along the apical dendrite.
  • Distal dendrites show smaller long-term potentiation and a broader spike-timing window for long-term depression (LTD).
  • The spike-timing window for LTD correlates with NMDA receptor suppression, which is also location-dependent.

Conclusions:

  • Dendritic location critically influences spike-timing-dependent synaptic modification.
  • NMDA receptor suppression is a key mechanism underlying LTD induction.
  • Dendritic inhomogeneity in synaptic plasticity enhances the computational capacity of cortical neurons by enabling differential input selection.