Topic: paired-pulse facilitation

One of the most fundamental tenets in neuroscience is that information is stored in the strength of synapses, and that learning relies on changes in synaptic strength. Here we aim to extend this tenet into the temporal domain by proposing that synapses not only learn to strengthen or weaken, but can learn when to be weak or strong on the subsecond scale. It has been known for more than half a century that synapses exhibit short-term synaptic plasticity (STP): a form of presynaptic, use-dependent, plasticity in which consecutive spikes can elicit progressively depressing (short-term depression/

Hypoinsulinemia is a pathological consequence of diabetes mellitus that can stimulate the development of neurodegenerative processes in the brain due to dysfunction of insulin signaling cascades into neurons and impaired synaptic plasticity properties. We used the whole-cell patch-clamp recording of evoked glutamatergic excitatory postsynaptic currents (eEPSCs) with the local stimulation of presynaptic axon to investigate the insulin (100 nM) effect on the paired-pulse plasticity at cultured hippocampal neurons under hypoinsulinemia (4 days insulin-free media incubation).At control normoinsuli

Calcium-evoked exocytosis of synaptic vesicles at the presynapse involves recruitment, docking, and priming of synaptic vesicles as well as localization of voltage-gated calcium channels in their close proximity. Piccolo, a large multidomain protein, acts as a scaffolding protein at the active zone, thus mediating the exact localization and functional interaction of several involved proteins. We aimed to investigate the functional role of piccolo, namely the effect on glutamate release and the involvement of calcium channel regulation, using cortico-hippocampal cell cultures from a novel condi

Neuromorphic electronics, inspired by the functions of neurons, have the potential to enable biomimetic communication with cells. Such systems require operation in aqueous environments, generation of sufficient levels of ionic currents for neurostimulation, and plasticity. However, their implementation requires a combination of separate devices, such as sensors, organic synaptic transistors, and stimulation electrodes. Here, we present a compact neuromorphic synapse that combines photodetection, memory, and neurostimulation functionalities all-in-one. The artificial photoreception is facilitat