Synaptic Plasticity and AMPA Receptor Trafficking

: Alterations in neuronal activity can elicit long‐lasting changes in the strength of synaptic transmission at excitatory synapses and, as a consequence, may underlie many forms of experience‐dependent plasticity, including learning and memory. The best‐characterized forms of such synaptic plasticit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2003-11, Vol.1003 (1), p.1-11
Main Author: MALENKA, ROBERT C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AMPA receptor
Animals
Endocytosis - drug effects
Endocytosis - physiology
Humans
LTD
LTP
Neuronal Plasticity - physiology
nucleus accumbens
Nucleus Accumbens - physiology
Receptors, AMPA - physiology
Substance-Related Disorders - physiopathology
Synapses - physiology
synaptic transmission
VTA
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:: Alterations in neuronal activity can elicit long‐lasting changes in the strength of synaptic transmission at excitatory synapses and, as a consequence, may underlie many forms of experience‐dependent plasticity, including learning and memory. The best‐characterized forms of such synaptic plasticity are the long‐term depression (LTD) and long‐term potentiation (LTP) observed at excitatory synapses in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. It is now well accepted that the trafficking of AMPA receptors to and away from the synaptic plasma membrane plays an essential role in both LTP and LTD, respectively. Here we review current models of AMPA receptor trafficking and how this trafficking may be regulated at the molecular level in order to produce the observed changes in synaptic strength. We also review recent work from our lab suggesting that synaptic plasticity in the mesolimbic dopamine system may contribute importantly to the neural adaptations elicited by drugs of abuse.
ISSN:0077-8923
1749-6632
DOI:10.1196/annals.1300.001