Abstract
Short-term plasticity (STP) comprises several rapid synaptic processes that operate on millisecond-to-minute timescales and modulate synaptic efficacy in an activity-dependent manner. Facilitation and augmentation are two major STP components in central synapses that work to enhance synaptic strength, while various forms of short-term depression work to decrease it. These multiple components of STP interact to perform a variety of synaptic computations. Using a modeling approach in excitatory hippocampal synapses, we recently described the contributions of individual STP components to synaptic operations. In this mini-review, we summarize the recent findings that revealed a wide palette of functions that STP components play in neural operations and discuss their roles in information processing, working memory and decision making.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 543-548 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Communicative and Integrative Biology |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2011 |
Keywords
- Augmentation
- Decision making
- Depression
- Facilitation
- Information processing
- Short-term plasticity
- Synaptic filtering
- Working memory