Category: Special Editions
-
Calendar
July 2021
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
June 28, 2021
June 29, 2021
June 30, 2021
July 1, 2021
July 2, 2021
July 3, 2021
July 4, 2021
July 5, 2021
July 6, 2021
July 7, 2021
July 8, 2021
July 9, 2021
July 10, 2021
July 11, 2021
July 12, 2021
July 13, 2021
July 14, 2021
July 15, 2021
July 16, 2021
July 17, 2021
July 18, 2021
July 19, 2021
2:00 pm: PhD Seminars XI
2:00 pm: PhD Seminars XI
July 19, 2021
–
Talk 1
Speaker
Yuri Elias Rodrigues (Mathneuro)
Title
The effect of experimental heterogeneity on synaptic plasticity
Abstract
How learning occurs has been a long-standing question in neuroscience. Since the first demonstration that the strength wiring up neurons can be persistent, the study of neuronal connections, the synapses, became a path to understanding memory formation. In the 70s, the first electrophysiology methods to modify the synaptic strength were discovered, leading to the evidence of how synapses subjected to stimulation are plastic. Such a form of synaptic plasticity was predicted two decades before by a theoretical synaptic rule coined by the neuropsychologist Donald Hebb. The possibility that a devised rule could explain memory motivated the birth of theories providing new questions and mechanistic representations of the brain’s functioning. The diversification of techniques allowed researchers to investigate in depth the nature of synaptic rules. However, the heterogeneity of experimental conditions adopted by different laboratories implicated that the same stimulation pattern could produce different synaptic modifications. The observed heterogeneity in the methods and outcomes have hindered the formalization of a coherent view on how synaptic plasticity works. To fill this gap, I developed a stochastic computational model of the rat CA3-CA1 glutamatergic synapse to explain and gain insights into how experimental conditions affect plasticity outcomes. I uncovered a new plasticity rule that accounts for methodological differences such as developmental aspects, extracellular medium and temperature influences on synaptic plasticity outcome. The model relies on an expanded version of the previous methods to predict synaptic plasticity, modified to handle combined dynamics. That is achieved by introducing a geometrical readout to interpret the dynamics of two calcium-binding enzymes controlling the induction of plasticity. In this way, the model covers classical and recent stimulation paradigms (e.g. STDP, FDP) using a single rule parameter set. This model allows one to obtain testable predictions since it links the simulated variables to the specificity needed to describe a plasticity protocol. Although the model is specific to a single CA3-CA1 synapse, the study’s insights may be generalized to other types, enabling a deeper understanding of the rules of synaptic plasticity and learning.
July 20, 2021
July 21, 2021
July 22, 2021
July 23, 2021
July 24, 2021
July 25, 2021
July 26, 2021
July 27, 2021
July 28, 2021
July 29, 2021
July 30, 2021
July 31, 2021
August 1, 2021
-
Calendar
July 2021 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday June 28, 2021 June 29, 2021 June 30, 2021 July 1, 2021 July 2, 2021 July 3, 2021 July 4, 2021 July 5, 2021 July 6, 2021 July 7, 2021 July 8, 2021 July 9, 2021 July 10, 2021 July 11, 2021 July 12, 2021 July 13, 2021 July 14, 2021 July 15, 2021 July 16, 2021 July 17, 2021 July 18, 2021 July 19, 2021 2:00 pm: PhD Seminars XI
2:00 pm: PhD Seminars XIJuly 19, 2021 –
Talk 1
Speaker
Yuri Elias Rodrigues (Mathneuro)
Title
The effect of experimental heterogeneity on synaptic plasticity
Abstract
How learning occurs has been a long-standing question in neuroscience. Since the first demonstration that the strength wiring up neurons can be persistent, the study of neuronal connections, the synapses, became a path to understanding memory formation. In the 70s, the first electrophysiology methods to modify the synaptic strength were discovered, leading to the evidence of how synapses subjected to stimulation are plastic. Such a form of synaptic plasticity was predicted two decades before by a theoretical synaptic rule coined by the neuropsychologist Donald Hebb. The possibility that a devised rule could explain memory motivated the birth of theories providing new questions and mechanistic representations of the brain’s functioning. The diversification of techniques allowed researchers to investigate in depth the nature of synaptic rules. However, the heterogeneity of experimental conditions adopted by different laboratories implicated that the same stimulation pattern could produce different synaptic modifications. The observed heterogeneity in the methods and outcomes have hindered the formalization of a coherent view on how synaptic plasticity works. To fill this gap, I developed a stochastic computational model of the rat CA3-CA1 glutamatergic synapse to explain and gain insights into how experimental conditions affect plasticity outcomes. I uncovered a new plasticity rule that accounts for methodological differences such as developmental aspects, extracellular medium and temperature influences on synaptic plasticity outcome. The model relies on an expanded version of the previous methods to predict synaptic plasticity, modified to handle combined dynamics. That is achieved by introducing a geometrical readout to interpret the dynamics of two calcium-binding enzymes controlling the induction of plasticity. In this way, the model covers classical and recent stimulation paradigms (e.g. STDP, FDP) using a single rule parameter set. This model allows one to obtain testable predictions since it links the simulated variables to the specificity needed to describe a plasticity protocol. Although the model is specific to a single CA3-CA1 synapse, the study’s insights may be generalized to other types, enabling a deeper understanding of the rules of synaptic plasticity and learning.
July 20, 2021 July 21, 2021 July 22, 2021 July 23, 2021 July 24, 2021 July 25, 2021 July 26, 2021 July 27, 2021 July 28, 2021 July 29, 2021 July 30, 2021 July 31, 2021 August 1, 2021
