Homosynaptic plasticity

Synaptic plasticity

Plasticity

Neuroscience

Biology

Hippocampal formation

Metaplasticity

Associative learning

Receptor

Neurotrophin

Synaptic scaling

Genetics

Thermodynamics

Memory consolidation

Physics

Hippocampus

Homeostatic plasticity

Nonsynaptic plasticity

Long-term potentiation

Developmental plasticity

Neuroplasticity

Aging Cell

The plasticity mechanisms in the nervous system that are important for learning and memory are greatly impacted during aging. Notably, hippocampal-dependent long-term plasticity and its associative plasticity, such as synaptic tagging and capture (STC), show considerable age-related decline. The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR ) is a negative regulator of structural and functional plasticity in the brain and thus represents a potential candidate to mediate age-related alterations. However, the mechanisms by which p75NTR affects synaptic plasticity of aged neuronal networks and ultimately contribute to deficits in cognitive function have not been well characterized. Here, we report that mutant mice lacking the p75NTR were resistant to age-associated changes in long-term plasticity, associative plasticity, and associative memory. Our study shows that p75NTR is responsible for age-dependent disruption of hippocampal homeostatic plasticity by modulating several signaling pathways, including BDNF, MAPK, Arc, and RhoA-ROCK2-LIMK1-cofilin. p75NTR may thus represent an important therapeutic target for limiting the age-related memory and cognitive function deficits.

Age‐related changes in hippocampal‐dependent synaptic plasticity and memory mediated by p75 neurotrophin receptor