Abstract
Synapse ultrastructure refers to the physical components and dimensions that make up a chemical synapse. While neuronal, axonal, and dendritic changes are undoubtedly important, the synapse may represent the primary location for activity-dependent neural plasticity (i.e., the brain's flexibility). Research on synapse ultrastructure has involved describing specific synaptic components, quantifying the number of synapses in various brain regions, and quantifying the dimensions of various synaptic components. Quantifying synapses may be especially important for functional reasons when synapses change in number and/or dimension following neural activation (e.g., long-term potentiation), neural lesions (e.g., reactive synaptogenesis), learning (e.g., motor learning), and memory formation. Beyond providing a summary of these quantitative results, this article examines mechanisms for synaptic ultrastructural change and the potential functional relevance (e.g., increased efficacy) of the changes in synaptic ultrastructure that have been observed.
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