Synapse-Specific Homeostatic Mechanisms in the Hippocampus

Homeostatic synaptic plasticity allows neural circuits to function stably despite fluctuations to their inputs. Previous work has shown that excitatory synaptic strength increases globally when neuronal inputs are chronically silenced. A recent paper by Kim and Tsien describes a new type of synapse-specific homeostatic plasticity in which input silencing causes simultaneous strengthening and weakening of different populations of excitatory synapses within a hippocampal network. These seemingly antagonistic homeostatic adaptations maintain synaptic gain and preserve overall network stability by limiting harmful reverberatory bursting, which may underlie epileptic seizures.