Publications by authors named "Alexis L Ducote"
Impairments in synaptic dynamics and stability are observed both in neurodegenerative disorders and in the healthy aging cortex, which exhibits elevated dendritic spine turnover and decreased long-term stability of excitatory connections at baseline, as well as an altered response to plasticity induction. In addition to the discrete gain and loss of synapses, spines also change in size and strength both during learning and in the absence of neural activity, and synaptic volume has been associated with stability and incorporation into memory traces. Furthermore, intrinsic dynamics, an apparently stochastic component of spine volume changes, may serve as a homeostatic mechanism to prevent stabilization of superfluous connections.
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- Sensorimotor performance declines with age, partly due to reduced somatosensory acuity and changes in excitability and inhibition of neurons in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1).
- Researchers examined vibrissal S1 neurons in young and aged mice, focusing on adapting and non-adapting pyramidal neurons in layer 5 (L5).
- They found that aging increased intrinsic excitability and decreased inhibition in both neuron types, with distinct effects: adapting neurons had a lower action potential threshold, while non-adapting neurons exhibited increased excitability due to higher input resistance and decreased synaptic inhibition.