Abstract
Evidence from experiments in the literature is presented for the mechanisms which contribute to the modifiability of synapses under the influences of local conditions in a neuronal net. However, there is always the complication that experiments in living beings or in cultured neural tissue allow interference only at a macroscopic scale. Therefore the experimental conditions in the referenced literature are described sufficiently carefully that the conclusions drawn from them can be appreciated well enough. After a brief survey of which synaptic properties are in principle variable, long—term potentiation (LTP) is described first, in a historical context. The role of nitric oxide, NO, is then demonstrated along the experiments of Rose et al. on food discrimination learning in chicks. Finally, the role of electrical activity is shown according to the famous experiments in Nelson's group on cell cultures of the spinal cord of mouse fetuses. In all cases the NMDA type of glutamate receptor plays an essential role.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bliss, T.V.P. and Lømo, T. (1973) Long—lasting potentiation of synaptic transmission in the dentate area of the anaesthetized rabbit following stimulation of the perforant path. J. Physiol. (London) 232, 331–356.
Gustafsson, B. and Wigström, H. (1988) Physiological mechanisms underlying long—term potentiation. Trends Neurosci. 11, 156–162.
Hebb, D.O. (1949) The organization of behaviour. Wiley, New York.
Kandel, E.R., Schwartz, J.H. and Jessell, T.M. (1991) Principles of Neuroscience. Elsevier, New York, etc.
Malenka, R.C., Kauer, J.A., Perkel, DJ., Mauk, M.D., Kelly, P.T., Nicoll, R.A. and Waxham, M.N. (1989) An essential role for postsynaptic calmodulin and protein kinase activity in long—term potentiation. Nature 340, 554–557.
Montague, P.R. and Sejnowski, TJ. (1994) The predictive brain: temporal coincidence and temporal order in synaptic learning mechanisms. Learning and Memory 1, 1–33.
Nelson, P.G., Yu, C, Douglas Fields, R. and Neale, E.A. (1989) Synaptic connections in vitro: Modulation of number and efficacy by electrical activity. Science 244, 585–587.
Nelson, P.G., Fields, R.D., Yu, C. and Neale, E.A. (1990) Mechanisms involved in activity—dependent synapse formation in mammalian central nervous system cell cultures. J. Neurobiol. 21, 138–156.
Oja, E., (1982) A simplified neuron model as a principal component analyzer. J. math. Biol. 15, 267–273.
Rose, S.P.R. (1991) How chicks make memories: the cellular cascade from c— fos to dendritic remodelling. Trends Neurosci. 14, 390–397.
Rose, S.P.R. (1993) Synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory, in: Baudry, M., Thompson, R.F. and Davis, J.L. (Eds.). Synaptic plasticity, MIT Press, Cambridge, Ma., pp.209–229.
Tanzi, E. (1893) I fatti e le induzioni nell’odierna istologia del sistema nervoso. Riv. sperim. freniatria medic. leg. 19, 419–472.
Further Reading
Baudry, M., Thompson, R.F. and Davis, J.L. (Eds.) (1993) Synaptic Plasticity: Molecular, Cellular, and Functionmal Aspects, MIT Press, Cambridge MA.
Changeux, J.P. (1983) L’Homme Neuronal, Fayard, Paris.
Edelman, G.M. (1987) Neural Darwinism; the Theory of Neural Group Selection, Basic Books, New York.
Purves, D. (1988) Body and Brain; a Trophic Theory of Neural Connections, Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Ma.
Hertz, J., Krogh, A. and Palmer, R.G. (1991) Introduction to the Theory of Neural Computation, Addison-Wesley, Redwood City, Ca, etc.
Hall Z.V. (1992) An Introduction to Molecular Neurobiology, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Ma. (In particular chapter 11, Molecular control of neural development by D.J. Anderson.)
Zelená, J. (1994) Nerves and Mechanoreceptors; the Role of Innervation in the Development and Maintenance of Mammalian Mechanoreceptors, Chapman and Hall, London, etc. (Of particular relevance for motor control.)
Murphey, R.K. and Davis, G.W. (Eds.) (1994) Retrograde Signalling at the Synapse, Special Issue of the Journal of Neurobiology, Vol. 25, No. 6.
Grossberg, S., Maass, W. and Markram, H. (Eds.) (2001) Spiking Neurons in Neuroscience and Technology, 2001 Special Issue of the journal Neural Networks.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vos, J.E. (2001). Biological Evidence for Synapse Modification, Relevant for Neural Network Modelling. In: Mastebroek, H.A.K., Vos, J.E. (eds) Plausible Neural Networks for Biological Modelling. Mathematical Modelling: Theory and Applications, vol 13. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0674-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0674-3_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-3864-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-010-0674-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive