Neuron
Volume 72, Issue 6, 22 December 2011, Pages 1001-1011
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Article
Compartmentalized versus Global Synaptic Plasticity on Dendrites Controlled by Experience

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Summary

Synapses in the brain are continuously modified by experience, but the mechanisms are poorly understood. In vitro and theoretical studies suggest threshold-lowering interactions between nearby synapses that favor clustering of synaptic plasticity within a dendritic branch. Here, a fluorescently tagged AMPA receptor-based optical approach was developed permitting detection of single-synapse plasticity in mouse cortex. Sensory experience preferentially produced synaptic potentiation onto nearby dendritic synapses. Such clustering was significantly reduced by expression of a phospho-mutant AMPA receptor that is insensitive to threshold-lowering modulation for plasticity-driven synaptic incorporation. In contrast to experience, sensory deprivation caused homeostatic synaptic enhancement globally on dendrites. Clustered synaptic potentiation produced by experience could bind behaviorally relevant information onto dendritic subcompartments; global synaptic upscaling by deprivation could equally sensitize all dendritic regions for future synaptic input.

Highlights

► Recent history of in vivo synaptic plasticity is identified at individual spines ► Sensory experience drives compartmentalized synaptic potentiation ► Sensory deprivation drives global synaptic upscaling ► Plasticity threshold controls compartmentalized synaptic potentiation

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