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

Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles01:20

Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles

8.4K
Excitation-contraction coupling is a series of events that occur between generating an action potential and initiating a muscle contraction. It occurs at the triad, a structure found in skeletal muscle fibers that comprise a T-tubule and terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum on each side. These triads are visible in longitudinally sectioned muscle fibers. They are typically located at the A-I junction — the junction between the A and I bands of the sarcomere.
When an action...
8.4K
Muscle Stimulation Frequency01:22

Muscle Stimulation Frequency

2.3K
The contraction strength of muscles is regulated by motor neurons, which modulate the frequency of action potentials dispatched to the motor units based on the body's requirements. This process of varying the muscle stimulation frequency allows muscles to contract with a force that is precisely tailored to the needs of the moment, whether lifting a feather or a heavy box.
Wave summation
At low firing rates, motor neurons induce individual twitch contractions in muscle fibers. These twitches...
2.3K
Integration of Synaptic Events01:28

Integration of Synaptic Events

1.6K
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...
1.6K
Somatic Spinal Reflexes01:22

Somatic Spinal Reflexes

2.2K
Somatic spinal reflexes are rapid, involuntary muscular responses to external stimuli that involve the somatic musculature and the spinal cord.
One of the most well-known somatic spinal reflexes is the stretch reflex, which is activated by the sudden stretching of a muscle. This reflex involves the activation of specialized sensory receptors called muscle spindles, which are located in the muscle tissue and detect changes in the length and speed of muscle contractions. When a muscle is suddenly...
2.2K
Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles01:24

Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles

4.6K
Every cell in the body maintains a membrane potential due to an uneven distribution of positive and negative charges across its plasma membrane. The membrane potential is measured in millivolts and quantifies the difference in charge across the membrane.
Like neurons, muscle cells are also regarded as excitable due to their capacity to change in response to stimuli, primarily due to voltage-gated ion channels embedded in their plasma membranes, which get activated by alterations in the...
4.6K

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Transformations of the spatial activity manifold convey aversive information in CA3.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

The multiple scales of astrocytic functional units.

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same author

In situ proximity labeling reveals the proteome and signaling landscape of presynaptic boutons.

Neuroscience research·2026
Same author

Simulation-based inference at the theoretical limit for fast, robust microstructural MRI with minimal diffusion data.

Communications medicine·2026
Same author

A neuromodulatory circuit-to-molecular pathway for reformatting aversive memories during recall.

Neuron·2026
Same author

Proteomics-based receptor-ligand matching enhances differentiation maturity of human-stem-cell-derived neurons.

Stem cell reports·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 16, 2025

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

3D Modeling of Dendritic Spines with Synaptic Plasticity

Published on: May 18, 2020

6.9K

Linking spontaneous and stimulated spine dynamics.

Maximilian F Eggl1, Thomas E Chater2,3, Janko Petkovic1

  • 1University of Mainz Medical Center, Anselm-Franz-von-Bentzel-Weg 3, 55128, Mainz, Germany.

Communications Biology
|September 11, 2023
PubMed
Summary

Synaptic plasticity enables memory formation but spontaneous changes challenge stability. This study reveals how local synaptic events and spontaneous fluctuations shape stable, population-level synaptic size distributions, crucial for memory encoding.

More Related Videos

Analysis of Dendritic Spine Morphology in Cultured CNS Neurons
11:48

Analysis of Dendritic Spine Morphology in Cultured CNS Neurons

Published on: July 13, 2011

35.2K
Voltage-sensitive Dye Recording from Axons, Dendrites and Dendritic Spines of Individual Neurons in Brain Slices
12:51

Voltage-sensitive Dye Recording from Axons, Dendrites and Dendritic Spines of Individual Neurons in Brain Slices

Published on: November 29, 2012

16.8K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 16, 2025

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

3D Modeling of Dendritic Spines with Synaptic Plasticity

Published on: May 18, 2020

6.9K
Analysis of Dendritic Spine Morphology in Cultured CNS Neurons
11:48

Analysis of Dendritic Spine Morphology in Cultured CNS Neurons

Published on: July 13, 2011

35.2K
Voltage-sensitive Dye Recording from Axons, Dendrites and Dendritic Spines of Individual Neurons in Brain Slices
12:51

Voltage-sensitive Dye Recording from Axons, Dendrites and Dendritic Spines of Individual Neurons in Brain Slices

Published on: November 29, 2012

16.8K

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Computational Biology
  • Synaptic Plasticity

Background:

  • The brain relies on synaptic plasticity for memory acquisition and storage.
  • Spontaneous synaptic changes can destabilize memory, posing a significant challenge.
  • Despite individual synapse fluctuations, population-level synaptic properties remain stable.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how local synaptic plasticity influences global synaptic size distribution.
  • To determine if individual plastic synapses deviate from stable distributions during memory encoding.
  • To model the dynamics of synaptic size under baseline and stimulated conditions.

Main Methods:

  • Observed spontaneously evolving dendritic spines.
  • Induced synaptic potentiation at specific sites, monitoring spine distribution.
  • Developed a stochastic model of synaptic size dynamics.

Main Results:

  • Demonstrated how local synaptic plasticity contributes to population-level synaptic shifts.
  • Showed that spontaneous synaptic fluctuations also influence global synaptic dynamics.
  • Modeled the relationship between local synaptic changes and population-level distributions.

Conclusions:

  • Both spontaneous synaptic fluctuations and targeted plasticity contribute to synaptic dynamics.
  • Understanding these dynamics is key to comprehending memory stability and encoding.
  • The study provides insights into the interplay between local synaptic events and global network properties.