Homeostatic Synaptic Plasticity: Local and Global Mechanisms for Stabilizing Neuronal Function

  1. Gina Turrigiano
  1. Department of Biology and Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02493
  1. Correspondence: turrigiano{at}brandeis.edu

Abstract

Neural circuits must maintain stable function in the face of many plastic challenges, including changes in synapse number and strength, during learning and development. Recent work has shown that these destabilizing influences are counterbalanced by homeostatic plasticity mechanisms that act to stabilize neuronal and circuit activity. One such mechanism is synaptic scaling, which allows neurons to detect changes in their own firing rates through a set of calcium-dependent sensors that then regulate receptor trafficking to increase or decrease the accumulation of glutamate receptors at synaptic sites. Additional homeostatic mechanisms may allow local changes in synaptic activation to generate local synaptic adaptations, and network-wide changes in activity to generate network-wide adjustments in the balance between excitation and inhibition. The signaling pathways underlying these various forms of homeostatic plasticity are currently under intense scrutiny, and although dozens of molecular pathways have now been implicated in homeostatic plasticity, a clear picture of how homeostatic feedback is structured at the molecular level has not yet emerged. On a functional level, neuronal networks likely use this complex set of regulatory mechanisms to achieve homeostasis over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales.



Also in this Collection

      | Table of Contents

      This Article

      1. Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Biol. 4: a005736 Copyright © 2012 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved

      Article Category

      Updates/Comments

      1. Submit Updates/Comments
      2. No Updates/Comments published

      Subject Collections

      1. The Synapse

      Share

      In this Collection