Biologjia Online

Cascade Models of Synaptically Stored Memories

Memory storage is often modeled as being associated with a permanent switch-like transition in the state of a set of synapses. For ongoing storage of everyday occurrences, such a mechanism is prone to rapid forgetting due to the overwriting of previously stored memories by new ones. In this modeling study, Fusi et al. construct and study a model in which each synapse has a cascade of states with different levels of plasticity, connected by metaplastic transistons. A synaptic plasticity mechanism that involves a cascade of transitions with a wide range of degrees of plasticity and lifetimes performs much better than a switch-like model. This suggests that the variety and complexity in forms of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity may be an essential element, rather than a complicating factor, in memory storage.

posted by Selfmaderadio @ 2:55 e pasdites