Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 16, 2026

Inducing Long-Term Plasticity of Intrinsic Neuronal Excitability in Neurons of the Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus
Published on: September 20, 2024
Sleep recalibrates homeostatic and associative synaptic plasticity in the human cortex
Marion Kuhn1, Elias Wolf1, Jonathan G Maier1
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Hauptstrasse 5, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Sleep is ubiquitous in animals and humans, but its function remains to be further determined. The synaptic homeostasis hypothesis of sleep-wake regulation proposes a homeostatic increase in net synaptic strength and cortical excitability along with decreased inducibility of associative synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) due to saturation after sleep deprivation. Here we use electrophysiological, behavioural and molecular indices to non-invasively study net synaptic strength and LTP-like plasticity in humans after sleep and sleep deprivation. We demonstrate indices of increased net synaptic strength (TMS intensity to elicit a predefined amplitude of motor-evoked potential and EEG theta activity) and decreased LTP-like plasticity (paired associative stimulation induced change in motor-evoked potential and memory formation) after sleep deprivation. Changes in plasma BDNF are identified as a potential mechanism. Our study indicates that sleep recalibrates homeostatic and associative synaptic plasticity, believed to be the neural basis for adaptive behaviour, in humans.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Neuroplasticity
Long-term Depression
Calcium Ion Concentration Mechanism
If over...
Long-term Depression
Plasticity
Long-term Potentiation

