Mechanisms of Neocortical Long-Term Potentiation and Long-Term Depression in the Freely Behaving Rat.

Abstract

<p>Long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD) are activity-dependent changes in synaptic strength that model how the brain might store memories. The mechanisms of LTP and LTD have been studied extensively in the hippocampus because the hippocampus is critical for memory storage. The neocortex is also believed to be critical for the long-term storage of memories, but less work on LTP and LTD has been done in the neocortex. Furthermore, the majority of neocortical LTP and LTD studies have been carried out in artifical brain-slice preparations. The experiments presented in this thesis test some mechanisms of LTP and LTD in the neocortex of the awake, freely behaving rat.</p>