Distinct synaptic plasticity rules operate across dendritic compartments in vivo during learning.
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| Title: | Distinct synaptic plasticity rules operate across dendritic compartments in vivo during learning. |
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| Authors: | Wright, William J., Hedrick, Nathan G., Komiyama, Takaki |
| Source: | Science. 4/18/2025, Vol. 388 Issue 6744, p322-328. 7p. |
| Subjects: | Neuroplasticity, Motor learning, Motor cortex, Postsynaptic potential, Pyramidal neurons, Hebbian memory |
| Abstract: | Synaptic plasticity underlies learning by modifying specific synaptic inputs to reshape neural activity and behavior. However, the rules governing which synapses will undergo different forms of plasticity in vivo during learning and whether these rules are uniform within individual neurons remain unclear. Using in vivo longitudinal imaging with single-synapse resolution in the mouse motor cortex during motor learning, we found that apical and basal dendrites of layer 2/3 (L2/3) pyramidal neurons showed distinct activity-dependent synaptic plasticity rules. The strengthening of apical and of basal synapses is predicted by local coactivity with nearby synapses and activity coincident with postsynaptic action potentials, respectively. Blocking postsynaptic spiking diminished basal synaptic potentiation without affecting apical plasticity. Thus, individual neurons use multiple activity-dependent plasticity rules in a compartment-specific manner in vivo during learning. Editor's summary: The brain learns from experience through changes in synaptic weights. But how are specific synapses selected to undergo different forms of plasticity during learning? Wright et al. examined synaptic plasticity rules in different dendritic compartments of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons of the mouse primary motor cortex (see the Perspective by Groisman and Letzkus). Strengthening of apical synapses depended on their correlated activity with their neighboring synapses and was independent of postsynaptic action potentials. By contrast, basal synapse strengthening was driven by activity coincidence with the postsynaptic action potentials, consistent with Hebbian mechanisms of plasticity. These different plasticity rules suggest functional specializations within individual neurons. Apical plasticity drives the formation of functional clusters of learning-related synapses for nonlinear integration, whereas basal plasticity favors the formation of Hebbian ensembles for reliable pattern completion. —Peter Stern [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Synaptic plasticity underlies learning by modifying specific synaptic inputs to reshape neural activity and behavior. However, the rules governing which synapses will undergo different forms of plasticity in vivo during learning and whether these rules are uniform within individual neurons remain unclear. Using in vivo longitudinal imaging with single-synapse resolution in the mouse motor cortex during motor learning, we found that apical and basal dendrites of layer 2/3 (L2/3) pyramidal neurons showed distinct activity-dependent synaptic plasticity rules. The strengthening of apical and of basal synapses is predicted by local coactivity with nearby synapses and activity coincident with postsynaptic action potentials, respectively. Blocking postsynaptic spiking diminished basal synaptic potentiation without affecting apical plasticity. Thus, individual neurons use multiple activity-dependent plasticity rules in a compartment-specific manner in vivo during learning. Editor's summary: The brain learns from experience through changes in synaptic weights. But how are specific synapses selected to undergo different forms of plasticity during learning? Wright et al. examined synaptic plasticity rules in different dendritic compartments of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons of the mouse primary motor cortex (see the Perspective by Groisman and Letzkus). Strengthening of apical synapses depended on their correlated activity with their neighboring synapses and was independent of postsynaptic action potentials. By contrast, basal synapse strengthening was driven by activity coincidence with the postsynaptic action potentials, consistent with Hebbian mechanisms of plasticity. These different plasticity rules suggest functional specializations within individual neurons. Apical plasticity drives the formation of functional clusters of learning-related synapses for nonlinear integration, whereas basal plasticity favors the formation of Hebbian ensembles for reliable pattern completion. —Peter Stern [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 00368075 |
| DOI: | 10.1126/science.ads4706 |
