Open AccessSynaptic Scaling Enables Dynamically Distinct Short- and Long-Term Memory Formation
Author(s) -
Christian Tetzlaff,
Christoph Kolodziejski,
Marc Timme,
Misha Tsodyks,
Florentin Wörgötter
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
plos computational biology/plos computational biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.628
H-Index - 182
eISSN - 1553-7358
pISSN - 1553-734X
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003307
Subject(s) - memory consolidation , neuroscience , synaptic plasticity , metaplasticity , long term potentiation , synaptic scaling , long term memory , neuronal memory allocation , computer science , consolidation (business) , short term memory , scaling , term (time) , synaptic augmentation , biology , excitatory postsynaptic potential , working memory , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , physics , hippocampus , cognition , mathematics , quantum mechanics , biochemistry , receptor , accounting , business , geometry
Memory storage in the brain relies on mechanisms acting on time scales from minutes, for long-term synaptic potentiation, to days, for memory consolidation. During such processes, neural circuits distinguish synapses relevant for forming a long-term storage, which are consolidated, from synapses of short-term storage, which fade. How time scale integration and synaptic differentiation is simultaneously achieved remains unclear. Here we show that synaptic scaling – a slow process usually associated with the maintenance of activity homeostasis – combined with synaptic plasticity may simultaneously achieve both, thereby providing a natural separation of short- from long-term storage. The interaction between plasticity and scaling provides also an explanation for an established paradox where memory consolidation critically depends on the exact order of learning and recall. These results indicate that scaling may be fundamental for stabilizing memories, providing a dynamic link between early and late memory formation processes.