TY - JOUR T1 - Intrinsic Stability of Temporally Shifted Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity A1 - Babadi, Baktash A1 - Abbott, L. F. Y1 - 2010/11/04 N2 - Author Summary Synaptic plasticity is believed to be a fundamental mechanism of learning and memory. In spike-timing dependent synaptic plasticity (STDP), the temporal order of pre- and postsynaptic spiking across a synapse determines whether it is strengthened or weakened. STDP can induce competition between the different inputs synapsing onto a neuron, which is crucial for the formation of functional neuronal circuits. However, strong synaptic competition is often incompatible with inherent synaptic stability. Synaptic modification by STDP is controlled by a so-called temporal window function that determines how synaptic modification depends on spike timing. We show that a small shift, or random jitter, in the conventional temporal window function used for STDP that is compatible with the underlying molecular kinetics of STDP, can both stabilize synapses and maintain competition. The outcome of the competition is determined by the level of inhibitory input to the postsynaptic neuron. We conclude that the detailed shape of the temporal window function is critical in determining the functional consequences of STDP and thus deserves further experimental study. JF - PLOS Computational Biology JA - PLOS Computational Biology VL - 6 IS - 11 UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000961 SP - e1000961 EP - PB - Public Library of Science M3 - doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000961 ER -