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Cell Discov 2020 Feb 25;6(1). Epub 2020 Feb 25.

Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027, China.

Excitatory synapses in the mammalian brain exhibit diverse functional properties in transmission and plasticity. Directly visualizing the structural correlates of such functional heterogeneity is often hindered by the diffraction-limited resolution of conventional optical imaging techniques. Here, we used super-resolution stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) to resolve structurally distinct excitatory synapses formed on dendritic shafts and spines. Read More

Eur J Pharmacol 2021 Feb 16;897:173946. Epub 2021 Feb 16.

School of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China. Electronic address:

Metaplasticity is referred to adjustment in the requirements for induction of synaptic plasticity based on the prior history of activity. Synaptic plasticity, including long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD), has been considered to be the neural processes underlying learning and memory. Previous observations that cordycepin (an adenosine derivative) improved learning and memory seemed to be contradictory to the findings that cordycepin inhibited LTP. Read More

Front Psychiatry 2020 16;11:590567. Epub 2020 Dec 16.

San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System, San Francisco, CA, United States.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a form of experience-dependent synaptic plasticity mediated by glutamatergic transmission at N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs). Impaired neuroplasticity has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, possibly due to underlying NMDAR hypofunction. Analogous to the high frequency electrical stimulation used to induce LTP and in animal models, repeated high frequency presentation of a visual stimulus in humans has been shown to induce enduring LTP-like neuroplastic changes in electroencephalography (EEG)-based visual evoked potentials (VEPs) elicited by the stimulus. Read More

Neurobiol Dis 2021 Mar 30;150:105246. Epub 2020 Dec 30.

Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, United States of America; Department of Neurology, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, United States of America; Department of Neurobiology, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, United States of America. Electronic address:

Loss-of-function PTEN Induced Kinase 1 (PINK1) mutations cause early-onset familial Parkinson's disease (PD) with similar clinical and neuropathological characteristics as idiopathic PD. While Pink1 knockout (KO) rats have mitochondrial dysfunction, locomotor deficits, and α-synuclein aggregates in several brain regions such as cerebral cortex, dorsal striatum, and substantia nigra, the functional ramifications on synaptic circuits are unknown. Using whole cell patch clamp recordings, we found a significant increase in the frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) onto striatal spiny projection neurons (SPNs) in Pink1 KO rats at ages 4 and 6 months compared to wild-type (WT) littermates, suggesting increased excitability of presynaptic neurons. Read More

Neuropharmacology 2021 02 17;184:108443. Epub 2020 Dec 17.

Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry of RAS, Torez Pr. 44, Saint Petersburg, 194223, Russia.

N-methyl-d-aspartate glutamate receptors (NMDARs) are involved in numerous central nervous system (CNS) processes, including epileptiform activity. We used a picrotoxin-induced epileptiform activity model to compare the action of different types of NMDAR antagonists in rat brain slices. Paroxysmal depolarizing shifts (PDS) were evoked by external stimulation in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) slices and recorded in pyramidal cells (PC) and in fast-spiking interneurons (FSI). Read More