Memory from the dynamics of intrinsic membrane currents
Abstract
Almost all theoretical and experimental studies of the mechanisms underlying learning and memory focus on synaptic efficacy and make the implicit assumption that changes in synaptic efficacy are both necessary and sufficient to account for learning and memory. However, network dynamics depends on the complex interaction between intrinsic membrane properties and synaptic strengths and time courses. Furthermore, neuronal activity itself modifies not only synaptic efficacy but also the intrinsic membrane properties of neurons. This paper presents examples demonstrating that neurons with complex temporal dynamics can provide short-term “memory” mechanisms that rely solely on intrinsic neuronal properties. Additionally, we discuss the potential role that activity may play in long-term modification of intrinsic neuronal properties. While not replacing synaptic plasticity as a powerful learning mechanism, these examples suggest that memory in networks results from an ongoing interplay between changes in synaptic efficacy and intrinsic membrane properties.
Footnotes
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↵ * e-mail: Marder{at}volen.brandeis.edu.
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This paper was presented at a colloquium entitled “Memory: Recording Experience in Cells and Circuits,” organized by Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic, held February 17–20, 1996, at the National Academy of Sciences in Irvine, CA.
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The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.
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Abbreviation: IPSP, inhibitory postsynaptic potential.
- Copyright © 1996, The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
