Modulation of the Induction of Long-Term Potentiation in the Hippocampus

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Abstract
In 1894, in his Croonian lecture to the British Royal Society, Ramon y Cajal suggested that learning induces morphological changes at junctions between neurons and that these structural changes form the basis for memory. Hebb (1949) postulated that synaptic strengthening occurs during coincident activity in pre- and post-synaptic elements and that this strengthening forms the basis for learning and memory. This hypothesis of Hebb or a modification of it is generally used to describe the cellular mechanisms of learning and memory. Bliss and Lømo (1973) showed that a transient tetanic stimulation of afferents in the hippocamppus resulted in a post-tetanic long-term potentiation (LTP) of the postsynaptic responses to the same afferent stimulation. LTP is generally thought to be associated with learning and memory although there is no clear evidence in support of this idea.