Long-Term Potentiation: BBS Call for Commentators

Below is the abstract of a forthcoming BBS target article on: LONG-TERM POTENTIATION: WHAT'S LEARNING GOT TO DO WITH IT? by Tracey J. Shors & Louis D. Matzel This article has been accepted for publication in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS), an international, interdisciplinary journal providing Open Peer Commentary on important and controversial current research in the biobehavioral and cognitive sciences. Commentators must be BBS Associates or nominated by a BBS Associate. To be considered as a commentator for this article, to suggest other appropriate commentators, or for information about how to become a BBS Associate, please send EMAIL to: bbs(a)cogsci.soton.ac.uk or write to: Behavioral and Brain Sciences Department of Psychology University of Southampton Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ UNITED KINGDOM http://www.princeton.edu/~harnad/bbs/ http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/bbs/ ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/BBS/ ftp://ftp.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/pub/bbs/ gopher://gopher.princeton.edu:70/11/.libraries/.pujournals If you are not a BBS Associate, please send your CV and the name of a BBS Associate (there are currently over 10,000 worldwide) who is familiar with your work. All past BBS authors, referees and commentators are eligible to become BBS Associates. To help us put together a balanced list of commentators, please give some indication of the aspects of the topic on which you would bring your areas of expertise to bear if you were selected as a commentator. An electronic draft of the full text is available for inspection by anonymous ftp (or gopher or world-wide-web) according to the instructions that follow after the abstract. ____________________________________________________________________ LONG-TERM POTENTIATION: WHAT'S LEARNING GOT TO DO WITH IT? Tracey J. Shors & Louis D. Matzel Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544 shors(a)pucc.princeton.edu Department of Psychology, Program in Biopsychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903 matzel(a)rci.rutgers.edu KEYWORDS: NMDA, synaptic plasticity, Hebbian synapses, calcium, hippocampus, theta rhythm, spatial learning, classical conditioning, attention, arousal, memory systems ABSTRACT: Long-term potentiation (LTP) is operationally defined as a long-lasting increase in synaptic efficacy which follows high-frequency stimulation of afferent fibers. Since the first full description of the phenomenon in 1973, exploration of the mechanisms underlying LTP induction has been one of the most active areas of research in neuroscience. Of principal interest to those who study LTP, particularly LTP in the mammalian hippocampus, is its presumed role in the establishment of stable memories, a role consistent with "Hebbian" descriptions of memory formation. Other characteristics of LTP, including its rapid induction, persistence, and correlation with natural brain rhythms, provide circumstantial support for this connection to memory storage. Nonetheless, there is little empirical evidence that directly links LTP to the storage of memories. In this commentary, we review a range of cellular and behavioral characteristics of LTP, and evaluate whether those characteristics are consistent with the purported role of hippocampal LTP in memory formation. We suggest that much of the present focus on LTP reflects a preconception that LTP is a learning mechanism, although the empirical evidence often suggests that LTP is unsuitable for such a role. As an alternative to serving as a memory storage device, we propose that LTP may serve as a neural equivalent to an arousal or attention device in the brain. Accordingly, LTP is suggested to nonspecifically increase the effective salience of discrete external stimuli and thereby is capable of facilitating the induction of memories at distant synapses. In an environment open to critical inquiry, other hypotheses regarding the functional utility of this intensely studied mechanism are conceivable; the intent of this article is not exclusively to promote a single hypothesis, but rather to stimulate discussion about the neural mechanisms that are likely to underlie memory storage, and to appraise whether LTP can reasonably be considered a viable candidate for such a mechanism. -------------------------------------------------------------- To help you decide whether you would be an appropriate commentator for this article, an electronic draft is retrievable by anonymous ftp from ftp.princeton.edu according to the instructions below (the filename is bbs.shors). Please do not prepare a commentary on this draft. Just let us know, after having inspected it, what relevant expertise you feel you would bring to bear on what aspect of the article. ------------------------------------------------------------- These files are also on the World Wide Web and the easiest way to retrieve them is with Netscape, Mosaic, gopher, archie, veronica, etc. Here are some of the URLs you can use to get to the BBS Archive: http://www.princeton.edu/~harnad/bbs/ http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/bbs/Archive/bbs.shors.html ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/BBS/bbs.shors ftp://ftp.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/pub/bbs/Archive/bbs.shors gopher://gopher.princeton.edu:70/11/.libraries/.pujournals To retrieve a file by ftp from an Internet site, type either: ftp ftp.princeton.edu or ftp 128.112.128.1 When you are asked for your login, type: anonymous Enter password as queried (your password is your actual userid: yourlogin(a)yourhost.whatever.whatever - be sure to include the "@") cd /pub/harnad/BBS To show the available files, type: ls Next, retrieve the file you want with (for example): get bbs.shors When you have the file(s) you want, type: quit