Dendritic trafficking: synaptic scaling and structural plasticity

TL;DR

This paper explores how synaptic scaling and structural plasticity work together to stabilize neuronal activity, demonstrating that slow growth dynamics enhance network stability beyond synaptic scaling alone.

Contribution

It reveals the complementary roles of synaptic scaling and structural plasticity, highlighting the importance of slow growth dynamics in neuronal stability.

Findings

Slow growth dynamics improve network stability

Synaptic scaling alone is insufficient for stability

Structural plasticity complements synaptic scaling

Abstract

Neuronal circuits internally regulate electrical signaling via a host of homeostatic mechanisms. Two prominent mechanisms, synaptic scaling and structural plasticity, are believed to maintain average activity within an operating range by modifying the strength and spatial extent of network connectivity using negative feedback. However, both mechanisms operate on relatively slow timescales and thus face fundamental limits due to delays. We show that these mechanisms fulfill complementary roles in maintaining stability in a large network. In particular, even relatively, slow growth dynamics improves performance significantly beyond synaptic scaling alone.