Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

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 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...
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.
Working Memory01:24

Working Memory

Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this information.
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...
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.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Parameter-efficient adaptation of foundational models for automated myocardial strain analysis.

Biomedical physics & engineering express·2026
Same author

Synchrony timescales underlie irregular neocortical spiking.

Neuron·2025
Same author

Reward-driven adaptation of movements requires strong recurrent basal ganglia-cortical loops.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025
Same author

The fluctuation-based regime of thalamocortical circuitry.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Universal black-box attacks against a third-party Alzheimer's diagnostic system.

Biomedical physics & engineering express·2025
Same author

Stability and robustness of idiosyncratic choice bias.

Communications psychology·2025
Same journal

Erratum: Yao et al., "Estrogen Regulates Bcl-w and Bim Expression: Role in Protection against β-Amyloid Peptide-Induced Neuronal Death".

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Erratum: L'Episcopo et al., "Plasticity of Subventricular Zone Neuroprogenitors in MPTP (1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-1,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine) Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease Involves Cross Talk between Inflammatory and Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathways: Functional Consequences for Neuroprotection and Repair".

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Representations of subsecond duration-based timing by complex spike synchrony in cerebellar Purkinje neurons.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

The extended language network: Language-responsive brain areas whose contributions to language remain to be discovered.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Cortical and thalamic afferent connectomes distinguish ACC subregions of the macaque brain.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

The synaptic vesicle priming protein Munc13 mediates evoked somatodendritic dopamine release.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 15, 2026

Slice Patch Clamp Technique for Analyzing Learning-Induced Plasticity
11:56

Slice Patch Clamp Technique for Analyzing Learning-Induced Plasticity

Published on: November 11, 2017

Short-term plasticity explains irregular persistent activity in working memory tasks.

David Hansel1, German Mato

  • 1Laboratory of Neurophysics and Physiology and Institute of Neuroscience and Cognition, University Paris Descartes, 75270 Paris Cedex 06, France.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|January 4, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Persistent brain activity, crucial for working memory (WM), is highly irregular. This study proposes that balanced excitation and inhibition in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) explains this irregularity, with short-term synaptic facilitation as a key mechanism.

More Related Videos

Investigating Long-term Synaptic Plasticity in Interlamellar Hippocampus CA1 by Electrophysiological Field Recording
14:27

Investigating Long-term Synaptic Plasticity in Interlamellar Hippocampus CA1 by Electrophysiological Field Recording

Published on: August 11, 2019

Improved Preparation and Preservation of Hippocampal Mouse Slices for a Very Stable and Reproducible Recording of Long-term Potentiation
09:39

Improved Preparation and Preservation of Hippocampal Mouse Slices for a Very Stable and Reproducible Recording of Long-term Potentiation

Published on: June 26, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 15, 2026

Slice Patch Clamp Technique for Analyzing Learning-Induced Plasticity
11:56

Slice Patch Clamp Technique for Analyzing Learning-Induced Plasticity

Published on: November 11, 2017

Investigating Long-term Synaptic Plasticity in Interlamellar Hippocampus CA1 by Electrophysiological Field Recording
14:27

Investigating Long-term Synaptic Plasticity in Interlamellar Hippocampus CA1 by Electrophysiological Field Recording

Published on: August 11, 2019

Improved Preparation and Preservation of Hippocampal Mouse Slices for a Very Stable and Reproducible Recording of Long-term Potentiation
09:39

Improved Preparation and Preservation of Hippocampal Mouse Slices for a Very Stable and Reproducible Recording of Long-term Potentiation

Published on: June 26, 2013

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • Persistent neural activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) underlies working memory (WM).
  • Spike trains during persistent activity exhibit high temporal irregularity, posing a challenge to current synaptic mechanism models.
  • Understanding the neural basis of WM requires explaining this irregularity within a functional circuit framework.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a model where balanced excitation and inhibition in the PFC explains the temporal irregularity of persistent activity during WM.
  • To investigate the role of nonlinearities in neuronal interactions and short-term synaptic facilitation as substrates for this balanced activity.
  • To develop and validate a computational model of the PFC circuit for the oculomotor delayed response task.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a computational model of the PFC circuit incorporating recurrent excitatory synapses with short-term synaptic facilitation.
  • Simulated the oculomotor delayed response task to observe persistent activity dynamics.
  • Analyzed network properties including firing irregularity, neuronal response diversity, and direction selectivity.

Main Results:

  • The model demonstrates direction-selective persistent activity, consistent with experimental observations.
  • Recurrent excitatory synapses with short-term facilitation create a balanced regime of persistent activity.
  • The model reproduces key experimental findings: increased firing irregularity during persistent states, diverse neuronal responses, and correlated preferred directions.

Conclusions:

  • Balanced excitation and inhibition, mediated by facilitating synapses, provide a robust mechanism for WM persistence in the PFC.
  • This mechanism explains the observed temporal irregularity and diversity of neural firing during WM tasks.
  • The model offers a plausible explanation for how the brain maintains information over several seconds, accounting for memory degradation over time.