Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons (Computational Neuroscience Series)
The Astrocyte as a Gatekeeper of Synaptic Information Transfer
Neural Computation
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Many contemporary studies have shown that astrocytes play a significant role in modulating both short and long form of synaptic plasticity. There are very few experimental models which elucidate the role of astrocyte over Long-term Potentiation (LTP). Recently, Perea and Araque (Science 317:1083---1086, 2007) demonstrated a role of astrocytes in induction of LTP at single hippocampal synapses. They suggested a purely pre-synaptic basis for induction of this N-methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) Receptor-independent LTP. Also, the mechanisms underlying this pre-synaptic induction were not investigated. Here, in this article, we propose a mathematical model for astrocyte modulated LTP which successfully imitates the experimental findings of Perea and Araque (Science 317:1083---1086, 2007). Our study suggests the role of retrograde messengers, possibly Nitric Oxide (NO), for this pre-synaptically modulated LTP.