Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Investigation of Synaptic Tagging/Capture and Cross-capture using Acute Hippocampal Slices from Rodents
Published on: September 4, 2015
Competition between recently potentiated synaptic inputs reveals a winner-take-all phase of synaptic tagging and
Sreedharan Sajikumar1, Richard G M Morris2, Martin Korte3
1Division of Cellular Neurobiology, Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany;Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597; and.
Abstract:
Canonical models suggest that mechanisms of long-term memory consist of a synapse-specific, protein synthesis-independent induction phase (changes in synaptic weights/temporary tagging of such synapses) and, within adjacent dendritic compartments, a protein synthesis-dependent distribution phase that may accompany or immediately precede induction and whose protein products enable consolidation through synaptic capture. We now report that this distribution phase is competitive in a "winner-take-all" fashion when synapses potentiated at induction compete with each other for plasticity-related proteins. This finding highlights the importance of synaptic competition in creating stable long-lasting memory in neural networks without disruption.
Related Concept Videos
Tagging and Fusion Proteins
Integration of Synaptic Events
Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane
In 1993, Jim Rothman proposed that the antiparallel pairing of vesicular and transmembrane SNAREs, or...
Long-term Potentiation
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when...
Long-term Potentiation
The Synapse

