Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
  • SUBSCRIBE

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
  • SUBSCRIBE
PreviousNext
Research Articles, Development/Plasticity/Repair

Predictable Fluctuations in Excitatory Synaptic Strength Due to Natural Variation in Presynaptic Firing Rate

Naixin Ren, Ganchao Wei, Abed Ghanbari and Ian H. Stevenson
Journal of Neuroscience 16 November 2022, 42 (46) 8608-8620; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0808-22.2022
Naixin Ren
1Departments of Psychological Sciences
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ganchao Wei
2Statistics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Abed Ghanbari
3The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut 06032
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ian H. Stevenson
1Departments of Psychological Sciences
4Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269
5Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Many controlled in vitro studies have demonstrated how postsynaptic responses to presynaptic spikes are not constant but depend on short-term synaptic plasticity (STP) and the detailed timing of presynaptic spikes. However, the effects of short-term plasticity (depression and facilitation) are not limited to short, subsecond timescales. The effects of STP appear on long timescales as changes in presynaptic firing rates lead to changes in steady-state synaptic transmission. Here, we examine the relationship between natural variations in the presynaptic firing rates and spike transmission in vivo. Using large-scale spike recordings in awake male and female mice from the Allen Institute Neuropixels dataset, we first detect putative excitatory synaptic connections based on cross-correlations between the spike trains of millions of pairs of neurons. For the subset of pairs where a transient, excitatory effect was detected, we use a model-based approach to track fluctuations in synaptic efficacy and find that efficacy varies substantially on slow (∼1 min) timescales over the course of these recordings. For many connections, the efficacy fluctuations are correlated with fluctuations in the presynaptic firing rate. To understand the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship, we then model the detailed probability of postsynaptic spiking on a millisecond timescale, including both slow changes in postsynaptic excitability and monosynaptic inputs with short-term plasticity. The detailed model reproduces the slow efficacy fluctuations observed with many putative excitatory connections, suggesting that these fluctuations can be both directly predicted based on the time-varying presynaptic firing rate and, at least partly, explained by the cumulative effects of STP.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The firing rates of individual neurons naturally vary because of stimuli, movement, and brain state. Models of synaptic transmission predict that these variations in firing rates should be accompanied by slow fluctuations in synaptic strength because of short-term depression and facilitation. Here, we characterize the magnitude and predictability of fluctuations in synaptic strength in vivo using large-scale spike recordings. For putative excitatory connections from a wide range of brain areas, we find that typical synaptic efficacy varies as much as ∼70%, and in many cases the fluctuations are well described by models of short-term synaptic plasticity. These results highlight the dynamic nature of in vivo synaptic transmission and the interplay between synaptic strength and firing rates in awake animals.

  • in vivo
  • short-term plasticity
  • spike recordings
  • synaptic efficacy

SfN exclusive license.

View Full Text

Member Log In

Log in using your username and password

Enter your Journal of Neuroscience username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Neuroscience: 42 (46)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 42, Issue 46
16 Nov 2022
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Masthead (PDF)
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Neuroscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Predictable Fluctuations in Excitatory Synaptic Strength Due to Natural Variation in Presynaptic Firing Rate
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Neuroscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Neuroscience.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Print
View Full Page PDF
Citation Tools
Predictable Fluctuations in Excitatory Synaptic Strength Due to Natural Variation in Presynaptic Firing Rate
Naixin Ren, Ganchao Wei, Abed Ghanbari, Ian H. Stevenson
Journal of Neuroscience 16 November 2022, 42 (46) 8608-8620; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0808-22.2022

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Request Permissions
Share
Predictable Fluctuations in Excitatory Synaptic Strength Due to Natural Variation in Presynaptic Firing Rate
Naixin Ren, Ganchao Wei, Abed Ghanbari, Ian H. Stevenson
Journal of Neuroscience 16 November 2022, 42 (46) 8608-8620; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0808-22.2022
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Keywords

  • in vivo
  • short-term plasticity
  • spike recordings
  • synaptic efficacy

Responses to this article

Respond to this article

Jump to comment:

No eLetters have been published for this article.

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

Research Articles

  • The human centromedial amygdala contributes to negative prediction error signaling during appetitive and aversive Pavlovian gustatory learning
  • Perceptual Difficulty Regulates Attentional Gain Modulations in Human Visual Cortex
  • Concurrent- and after-effects of medial temporal lobe stimulation on directed information flow to and from prefrontal and parietal cortices during memory formation
Show more Research Articles

Development/Plasticity/Repair

  • Macrophages Promote Repair of Inner Hair Cell Ribbon Synapses following Noise-Induced Cochlear Synaptopathy
  • Pairing with enriched sound exposure restores auditory processing degraded by an antidepressant
  • Cbln1 Directs Axon Targeting by Corticospinal Neurons Specifically toward Thoraco-Lumbar Spinal Cord
Show more Development/Plasticity/Repair
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Facebook
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on Twitter
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on LinkedIn
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Youtube
  • Follow our RSS feeds

Content

  • Early Release
  • Current Issue
  • Issue Archive
  • Collections

Information

  • For Authors
  • For Advertisers
  • For the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2023 by the Society for Neuroscience.
JNeurosci Online ISSN: 1529-2401

The ideas and opinions expressed in JNeurosci do not necessarily reflect those of SfN or the JNeurosci Editorial Board. Publication of an advertisement or other product mention in JNeurosci should not be construed as an endorsement of the manufacturer’s claims. SfN does not assume any responsibility for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of any material contained in JNeurosci.