Long term potentiation and paired pulse depression in a virtual brain slice

Long term potentiation refers to a persistent increase in synaptic strength as a result of the repetitive stimulation of the synapse. It is thought to be a manifestation of Hebbian plasticity, and relates to the processes involved in the formation of memories. Paired pulse depression is a form of short term plasticity, a consequence of the depletion of synaptic vesicles during sustained activation. Both phenomena are often studied in the in vitro brain slice preparation using electric field stimulation to stimulate the synapses and local field potential recordings to measure the change in synaptic strength. This talk will present simulations of a virtual brain slice, where we induce long term potentiation and paired pulse depression by applying electric field stimulation and assuming either spike timing dependent plasticity or short term plasticity.