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Updated: Dec 1, 2025

3D Modeling of Dendritic Spines with Synaptic Plasticity
Published on: May 18, 2020
My Neighbour Hetero-deconstructing the mechanisms underlying heterosynaptic plasticity
Thomas E Chater1, Yukiko Goda1
1RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
Abstract:
Synapses change in strength following patterns of activity, but in many cases seemingly inactive neighbouring synapses also undergo changes in strength. These heterosynaptic changes occur across developmental time-points in various brain circuits in different species, but their precise molecular mechanisms are not well understood. Additionally, heterosynaptic changes can mirror homosynaptic plasticity or occur in opposition to homosynaptic changes. In this review we consider what useful functionality heterosynaptic dynamics could potentially endow the circuit with, and the underlying signalling events that implement heterosynaptic changes. We discuss what unanswered questions remain, and what the future looks like for understanding the logic of synaptic plasticity.
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