Topic: presynaptic activity

The response of sensory neurons to different stimuli are largely characterized by tuning curves, with a peak of activity at a preferred stimulus. Tuning curves are thought to be shaped by Hebbian plasticity during development through the strengthening of synapses between neurons with similar functional preferences. This raises the hypothesis that the strength of synapses should correlate with the difference in functional preference between pre- and postsynaptic activity. A recent study, however, found that the functional preference of cortical neurons was correlated with the number of spines a

A central goal of modern neuroscience is to relate structure, dynamics, and computation in recurrent neural networks (RNNs), in particular those that can be created via biological learning rules. To date, most work on RNN training has focused on either efficient but non-biological rules (e.g., backprop, FORCE) or biologically plausible rules with poor learning efficiency (e.g., Hebbian learning). However, some of the fastest, strongest learning rules thought to act in vivo are not Hebbian, for instance in the fly mushroom body, where plasticity depends on high-dimensional presynaptic activity

The neurotransmitter ACh plays a crucial role in the communication between motor neuron and muscle at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). Synthesis, storage and degradation of ACh are performed by choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE), respectively. Presynaptic activity and nerve-induced muscle contraction regulate ACh release through muscarinic ACh autoreceptors (mAChRs). We previously identified a complex protein network including M1 and M2 mAChRs and multiple kinases that regulate ACh release at the NMJ. The aim of this w