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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 586/6/1487    most recent jphysiol.2007.148098v1 Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Nugent, F. S. Articles by Kauer, J. A. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Nugent, F. S. Articles by Kauer, J. A. Related Collections Review articles Neuroscience

¹ Brown University, Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology, Providence, RI 02912, USA

One of the mechanisms by which the experience-dependent reorganization of neural circuitry can occur is through changes in synaptic strength. Almost every excitatory synapse in the mammalian brain exhibits LTP (long-term potentiation) or LTD (long-term depression), two cellular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity. However, LTP and LTD have been reported much more rarely at fast inhibitory GABA_A receptor synapses. Our recent study suggests that in vivo morphine initiates a long-lasting alteration of GABAergic synapses in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) by blocking the mechanisms required for LTP of GABAergic synapses. Here we put this work into the context of other examples of synaptic plasticity at GABAergic synapses.

(Received 9 November 2007; accepted after revision 6 December 2007; first published online 13 December 2007)
Corresponding author J. A. Kauer: Brown University, Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology, Providence, RI 02912, USA. Email: julie_kauer{at}brown.edu

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