Material below summarizes the article Retinoic Acid Receptor RARα-Dependent Synaptic Signaling Mediates Homeostatic Synaptic Plasticity at the Inhibitory Synapses of Mouse Visual Cortex, published on October 24, 2018, in JNeurosci and authored by Lei R. Zhong, Xin Chen, Esther Park, Thomas C. Südhof, and Lu Chen.
The ability of an individual to fully function — to think, feel, plan, and act — depends on the synaptic connections formed between neurons in the brain.
The process through which synaptic connections change with experience is referred to as synaptic plasticity. Defective synaptic plasticity has been implicated in various neurological diseases, so a major effort in neuroscience research is to study molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity.
Most current research focuses on Hebbian plasticity, a form of synaptic plasticity believed to directly underlie our ability to learn and form memories. Coordinated activity between pre-synaptic and post-synaptic neurons drives strengthening of the connection, while out-of-sync activity leads to weakening of the connection.
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