A molecular biological approach to synaptic plasticity and learning

Until the more recent advances made in molecular biology, attempts to link synaptic plasticity and learning have focused on using LTP as a marker of learning-induced synaptic plasticity, where one has expected to observe the same magnitude of change in synaptic strength as that observed with artificial stimulation. To a large extent this approach has been frustrated by the fact that it is generally assumed that the representation of the memory traces is distributed thoughout widespread networks of cells. By implication it is more likely that one would observe small distributed changes within a network; a formidable task to measure. In this review we describe how the advances in molecular biology give us both the tools to investigate the mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and to apply these to investigations of the underlying mechanisms in learning and the formation of memories that have until now remained out of our grasp.