Howland John G, Wang Yu Tian
Neural Systems and Plasticity Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A5, Canada.
Prog Brain Res. 2008;169:145-58. doi: 10.1016/S0079-6123(07)00008-8.
Synaptic plasticity has often been argued to play an important role in learning and memory. The discovery of long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD), the two most widely cited cellular models of synaptic plasticity, significantly spurred research in this field. Although correlative evidence suggesting a role for synaptic changes such as those seen in LTP and LTD in learning and memory has been gained in a number of studies, definitive demonstrations of a specific role for either LTP or LTD in learning and memory are lacking. In this review, we discuss a number of recent advancements in the understanding of the mechanisms that mediate LTP and LTD in the rodent hippocampus and focus on the use of subunit-specific N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonists and interference peptides as potential tools to study the role of synaptic plasticity in learning and memory. By using the modulation of synaptic plasticity and hippocampal-dependent learning and memory by acute stress as an example, we review a large body of convincing evidence indicating that alterations in synaptic plasticity underlie the changes in learning and memory produced by acute stress.
人们常认为突触可塑性在学习和记忆中发挥着重要作用。长期增强（LTP）和长期抑制（LTD）这两种最常被引用的突触可塑性细胞模型的发现，极大地推动了该领域的研究。尽管在许多研究中已经获得了相关证据，表明诸如LTP和LTD中所见的突触变化在学习和记忆中起作用，但仍缺乏关于LTP或LTD在学习和记忆中特定作用的确切证明。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了在理解啮齿动物海马体中介导LTP和LTD的机制方面的一些最新进展，并重点关注使用亚基特异性N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸受体拮抗剂和干扰肽作为研究突触可塑性在学习和记忆中作用的潜在工具。以急性应激对突触可塑性和海马体依赖性学习与记忆的调节为例，我们回顾了大量有说服力的证据，表明突触可塑性的改变是急性应激所产生的学习和记忆变化的基础。
