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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

TRPV1, hippocampal plasticity, neuronal plasticity, LTP, long-term potentiation

College

Life Sciences

Department

Physiology and Developmental Biology

Abstract

Until recently, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind memory has been extremely limited. However, recent studies indicate that memory formation is associated with two forms of neuronal plasticity known as long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) (Bailey & Kandel, 2008). These are physiological processes that essentially alter the strength of a synapse between two neurons and are of particular importance in the brain region called the hippocampus. The hippocampus is heavily associated with learning and memory and is a frequent target of research for this reason. A novel form of LTP has recently been found within the hippocampus that implements a receptor protein called TRPV1 (Gibson, Edwards, Page, Van Hook, & Kauer, 2008). TRPV1 has been connected to a number of functions within the peripheral nervous system (PNS), but this finding is one of the first to implicate TRPV1 with functions inside the central nervous system.

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