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The computational power of astrocyte mediated synaptic plasticity
Research in the last two decades has made clear that astrocytes play a crucial role in the brain beyond their functions in energy metabolism and homeostasis. Many studies have shown that astrocytes can dynamically modulate neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity, and might participate in highe...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2012
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3485583/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23125832 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncom.2012.00093 |
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author | Min, Rogier Santello, Mirko Nevian, Thomas |
author_facet | Min, Rogier Santello, Mirko Nevian, Thomas |
author_sort | Min, Rogier |
collection | PubMed |
description | Research in the last two decades has made clear that astrocytes play a crucial role in the brain beyond their functions in energy metabolism and homeostasis. Many studies have shown that astrocytes can dynamically modulate neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity, and might participate in higher brain functions like learning and memory. With the plethora of astrocyte mediated signaling processes described in the literature today, the current challenge is to identify, which of these processes happen under what physiological condition, and how this shapes information processing and, ultimately, behavior. To answer these questions will require a combination of advanced physiological, genetical, and behavioral experiments. Additionally, mathematical modeling will prove crucial for testing predictions on the possible functions of astrocytes in neuronal networks, and to generate novel ideas as to how astrocytes can contribute to the complexity of the brain. Here, we aim to provide an outline of how astrocytes can interact with neurons. We do this by reviewing recent experimental literature on astrocyte-neuron interactions, discussing the dynamic effects of astrocytes on neuronal excitability and short- and long-term synaptic plasticity. Finally, we will outline the potential computational functions that astrocyte-neuron interactions can serve in the brain. We will discuss how astrocytes could govern metaplasticity in the brain, how they might organize the clustering of synaptic inputs, and how they could function as memory elements for neuronal activity. We conclude that astrocytes can enhance the computational power of neuronal networks in previously unexpected ways. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3485583 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2012 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-34855832012-11-02 The computational power of astrocyte mediated synaptic plasticity Min, Rogier Santello, Mirko Nevian, Thomas Front Comput Neurosci Neuroscience Research in the last two decades has made clear that astrocytes play a crucial role in the brain beyond their functions in energy metabolism and homeostasis. Many studies have shown that astrocytes can dynamically modulate neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity, and might participate in higher brain functions like learning and memory. With the plethora of astrocyte mediated signaling processes described in the literature today, the current challenge is to identify, which of these processes happen under what physiological condition, and how this shapes information processing and, ultimately, behavior. To answer these questions will require a combination of advanced physiological, genetical, and behavioral experiments. Additionally, mathematical modeling will prove crucial for testing predictions on the possible functions of astrocytes in neuronal networks, and to generate novel ideas as to how astrocytes can contribute to the complexity of the brain. Here, we aim to provide an outline of how astrocytes can interact with neurons. We do this by reviewing recent experimental literature on astrocyte-neuron interactions, discussing the dynamic effects of astrocytes on neuronal excitability and short- and long-term synaptic plasticity. Finally, we will outline the potential computational functions that astrocyte-neuron interactions can serve in the brain. We will discuss how astrocytes could govern metaplasticity in the brain, how they might organize the clustering of synaptic inputs, and how they could function as memory elements for neuronal activity. We conclude that astrocytes can enhance the computational power of neuronal networks in previously unexpected ways. Frontiers Media S.A. 2012-11-01 /pmc/articles/PMC3485583/ /pubmed/23125832 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncom.2012.00093 Text en Copyright © 2012 Min, Santello and Nevian. http://www.frontiersin.org/licenseagreement This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party graphics etc. |
spellingShingle | Neuroscience Min, Rogier Santello, Mirko Nevian, Thomas The computational power of astrocyte mediated synaptic plasticity |
title | The computational power of astrocyte mediated synaptic plasticity |
title_full | The computational power of astrocyte mediated synaptic plasticity |
title_fullStr | The computational power of astrocyte mediated synaptic plasticity |
title_full_unstemmed | The computational power of astrocyte mediated synaptic plasticity |
title_short | The computational power of astrocyte mediated synaptic plasticity |
title_sort | computational power of astrocyte mediated synaptic plasticity |
topic | Neuroscience |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3485583/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23125832 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncom.2012.00093 |
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