Circuit-specific changes in D-serine-dependent activation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor in the aging hippocampus.

Age-related memory deficits have recently been associated with the impaired expression of D-serine-dependent synaptic plasticity in neuronal networks of the hippocampal CA1 area. However, whether such functional alterations are common to the entire hippocampus during aging remains unknown. Here, we found that D-serine was also required for the induction of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA-R)-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) at perforant path-granule cell synapses of the dentate gyrus.