Synaptic Plasticity - Short-term Plasticity

Short-term Plasticity

Plasticity can be categorized as short-term, lasting a few seconds or less, or long-term, which lasts from minutes to hours. Short-term synaptic enhancement results from an increase in the probability that synaptic terminals will release transmitters in response to pre-synaptic action potentials. Synapses will strengthen for a short time because of either an increase in size of the readily releasable pool of packaged transmitter or an increase in the amount of packaged transmitter released in response to each action potential. Types of short term plasticity include synaptic augmentation, depression, facilitation, or neural facilitation, and post-tetanic potentiation.