A history of spike-timing-dependent plasticity
How learning and memory is achieved in the brain is a central question in neuroscience research. Key to today’s research into information storage in the brain is the concept of synaptic plasticity, a notion that has been heavily influenced by Donald Hebb’s 1949 postulate. Hebb conjectured that repea...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2011-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnsyn.2011.00004/full |
| _version_ | 1828516210252185600 |
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| author | Henry eMarkram Wulfram eGerstner Per Jesper eSjöström Per Jesper eSjöström |
| author_facet | Henry eMarkram Wulfram eGerstner Per Jesper eSjöström Per Jesper eSjöström |
| author_sort | Henry eMarkram |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | How learning and memory is achieved in the brain is a central question in neuroscience research. Key to today’s research into information storage in the brain is the concept of synaptic plasticity, a notion that has been heavily influenced by Donald Hebb’s 1949 postulate. Hebb conjectured that repeatedly and persistently coactive cells should increase connective strength among populations of interconnected neurons as a means of storing a memory trace, also known as an engram. Hebb certainly was not the first to make such a conjecture, as we show in this history. Nevertheless, literally thousands of studies into the classical frequency-dependent paradigm of cellular learning rules were directly inspired by the Hebbian postulate. But in more recent years, a novel concept in cellular learning has emerged, where temporal order instead of frequency is emphasized. This new learning paradigm — known as Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity, or STDP — has rapidly gained tremendous interest, perhaps because of its combination of elegant simplicity, biological plausibility, and computational power. But what are the roots of today’s STDP concept? Here, we discuss several centuries of diverse thinking, beginning with philosophers such as Aristotle, Locke and Ribot, traversing e.g. Lugaro’s plasticità and Rosenblatt’s Perceptron, and culminating with the discovery of STDP. We highlight interactions between theoretical and experimental fields, showing how discoveries sometimes occurred in parallel, seemingly without much knowledge of the other field, and sometimes via concrete back-and-forth communication. We point out where the future directions may lie, which includes interneuron STDP, the functional impact of STDP, its mechanisms and its neuromodulatory regulation, and the linking of STDP to the developmental formation and continuous plasticity of neuronal networks. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:23:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e82f2f501c964267a8c70dcf29e27b2e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1663-3563 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:23:54Z |
| publishDate | 2011-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-e82f2f501c964267a8c70dcf29e27b2e2022-12-22T00:55:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience1663-35632011-08-01310.3389/fnsyn.2011.0000410132A history of spike-timing-dependent plasticityHenry eMarkram0Wulfram eGerstner1Per Jesper eSjöström2Per Jesper eSjöström3Ecole Polytechnique Federale de LausanneEcole Polytechnique Federale de LausanneUniversity College LondonMontreal General HospitalHow learning and memory is achieved in the brain is a central question in neuroscience research. Key to today’s research into information storage in the brain is the concept of synaptic plasticity, a notion that has been heavily influenced by Donald Hebb’s 1949 postulate. Hebb conjectured that repeatedly and persistently coactive cells should increase connective strength among populations of interconnected neurons as a means of storing a memory trace, also known as an engram. Hebb certainly was not the first to make such a conjecture, as we show in this history. Nevertheless, literally thousands of studies into the classical frequency-dependent paradigm of cellular learning rules were directly inspired by the Hebbian postulate. But in more recent years, a novel concept in cellular learning has emerged, where temporal order instead of frequency is emphasized. This new learning paradigm — known as Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity, or STDP — has rapidly gained tremendous interest, perhaps because of its combination of elegant simplicity, biological plausibility, and computational power. But what are the roots of today’s STDP concept? Here, we discuss several centuries of diverse thinking, beginning with philosophers such as Aristotle, Locke and Ribot, traversing e.g. Lugaro’s plasticità and Rosenblatt’s Perceptron, and culminating with the discovery of STDP. We highlight interactions between theoretical and experimental fields, showing how discoveries sometimes occurred in parallel, seemingly without much knowledge of the other field, and sometimes via concrete back-and-forth communication. We point out where the future directions may lie, which includes interneuron STDP, the functional impact of STDP, its mechanisms and its neuromodulatory regulation, and the linking of STDP to the developmental formation and continuous plasticity of neuronal networks.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnsyn.2011.00004/fullLearningMemorysynaptic plasticityHistorybidirectional plasticityLong Term Depression |
| spellingShingle | Henry eMarkram Wulfram eGerstner Per Jesper eSjöström Per Jesper eSjöström A history of spike-timing-dependent plasticity Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience Learning Memory synaptic plasticity History bidirectional plasticity Long Term Depression |
| title | A history of spike-timing-dependent plasticity |
| title_full | A history of spike-timing-dependent plasticity |
| title_fullStr | A history of spike-timing-dependent plasticity |
| title_full_unstemmed | A history of spike-timing-dependent plasticity |
| title_short | A history of spike-timing-dependent plasticity |
| title_sort | history of spike timing dependent plasticity |
| topic | Learning Memory synaptic plasticity History bidirectional plasticity Long Term Depression |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnsyn.2011.00004/full |
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