Molecular consequences of diffusible signaling: locally distributed synaptic enhancement in hippocampal neurons

The long-lasting increase in synaptic strength known as long-term potentiation is regarded as a potential physiological mechanism for many forms of both developmental and adult neuronal plasticity. In many models of plasticity, intercellular communication has been proposed to account for observations in which simultaneously active neurons are strengthened together. Recent studies indicate that long-term potentiation can be communicated between synapses on neighboring neurons, perhaps via a diffusible messenger. This distributed potentiation provides a potential mechanism for the cooperative strengthening of proximal synapses that underlie common neuronal functions and contribute to a variety of plastic processes in the nervous system.