Dopaminergic Modulation of Synaptic Plasticity, Its Role in Neuropsychiatric Disorders, and Its Computational Modeling

Basic and Clinical Neuroscience

ARTICLE

Madadi Asl, Mojtaba¹  Vahabie, Abdol-Hossein²  Valizadeh, Alireza¹ 

[1] Department of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS);School of Cognitive Sciences, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM)

关键词: Dopamine;    Neuromodulation;    Neuropsychiatric disorders;    Synaptic plasticity;   

DOI  :  10.32598/bcn.9.10.125

来源: Iran University of Medical Sciences

【 摘 要 】

Neuromodulators modify intrinsic characteristics of the nervous system in order to reconfigure the functional properties of neural circuits. This reconfiguration is crucial for the flexibility of the nervous system to respond on an input-modulated basis. Such a functional rearrangement is realized by modification of intrinsic properties of the neural circuits including synaptic interactions. Dopamine is an important neuromodulator involved in motivation and stimulusreward learning process, and adjusts synaptic dynamics in multiple time scales through different pathways. The modification of synaptic plasticity by dopamine underlies the change in synaptic transmission and integration mechanisms, which affects intrinsic properties of the neural system including membrane excitability, probability of neurotransmitters release, receptors’ response to neurotransmitters, protein trafficking, and gene transcription. Dopamine also plays a central role in behavioral control, whereas its malfunction can cause cognitive disorders. Impaired dopamine signaling is implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, drug addiction, schizophrenia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette’s syndrome. Therefore, dopamine plays a crucial role in the nervous system, where its proper modulation of neural circuits may enhance plasticity-related procedures, but disturbances in dopamine signaling might be involved in numerous neuropsychiatric disorders. In recent years, several computational models are proposed to formulate the involvement of dopamine in synaptic plasticity or neuropsychiatric disorders and address their connection based on the experimental findings.

【 授权许可】

Unknown