Topic: spine selectivity

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