Synaptic Plasticity
The ability of synapses to strengthen or weaken over time in response to changes in neural activity — the cellular basis of learning and memory. Long-term potentiation (LTP), discovered by Bliss and Lømo (1973), is the sustained strengthening of synaptic transmission following high-frequency stimulation; it depends on NMDA receptors as coincidence detectors and AMPA receptor trafficking. Long-term depression (LTD) is the complementary weakening. Hebb's postulate (1949) — "neurons that fire together, wire together" — provides the conceptual foundation.
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