Section: New Results

The molecular signaling basis of neuronal plasticity

Many of the cell-level properties of the neurons vary as a function of the signals from other neurons or past activity. These modifications are often maintained in the long term, giving rise to cell memory. We have developed models of how the implicated signaling networks self-organize to support a memory and how this leads to cell-level responses such as changes of the firing threshold [24] or the spike-timing dependence [34] . The latter, for instance, corresponds to the observation that the probability of transfer of an electrical signal (spike) between two connected neurons (the synaptic weight) adapts depending on the timing between previous consecutive presynaptic and postsynaptic spikes. Combining a model of the implicated signaling networks with experimental measurements, we have uncovered the molecular mechanisms supporting this memory.

This work is developed in collaboration with both with applied mathematicians (B. Cessac, Inria Neuromathcomp, Sophia-Antipolis) and experimental neurobiologists (L. Venance, Collège de France, Paris).