Synaptic Plasticity and the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 November 2025 | Viewed by 616
Special Issue Editors
Interests: development; behavioral neuroscience; neuroanatomy
Interests: neurodegeneration; behavioral neuroscience; transcriptomics; learning
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Learning and memory are fundamental brain functions allowing us to adapt to the environment and improve performance over time, and, ultimately, build up our own history as unique creatures. Learning and memory functions require modification of neural networks through the key mechanism of synaptic plasticity, the process in which the strength of synapses is altered in response to the pattern of activity. Namely, while learning brings about changes in synaptic strength within neuronal circuits, the persistence of these changes represents the way memories are stored. The synaptic modification and sculpting of neuronal connections in response to environmental inputs are crucial steps in the chain of cellular and biochemical events that lead to memories formed in cell assemblies and neural networks. Synaptic modifications of neural networks are what account for the cognitive basis of learning and memory. In fact, various forms of memory (short- and long-term memory, implicit and declarative memory) and learning (visual, kinesthetic, social, observational) are encoded as short-to-long lived rearrangements in synaptic efficiency and in the structure of neuronal networks and share a common molecular alphabet. Notwithstanding, in mammals, various brain areas participate in distinct forms of memory, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms are closely similar and utilize elements of a common genetic program. The present Special Issue is aimed at examining the synaptic plastic mechanisms underlying various forms of memory and learning. Although many data have partially elucidated the physiological mechanisms at synapse and network levels, many questions remain open about the relationship among the intracellular biochemical processes, the plasticity of neuronal networks, and learning and memory processes.
Dr. Anna Panuccio
Dr. Erica Berretta
Dr. Laura Petrosini
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- learning and memory
- neuronal and glial cells
- long-term potentiation and long-term depression
- molecular mechanisms
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