Abstract Artificial synapses are electronic devices that simulate important functions of biological synapses, and therefore are the basic components of artificial neural morphological networks for brain-like computing. One of the most important objectives for developing artificial synapses is to simulate the characteristics of biological synapses as much as possible, especially their self-adaptive ability to external stimuli. Here, we have successfully developed an artificial synapse with multiple synaptic functions and highly adaptive characteristics based on a simple SrTiO3/Nb: SrTiO3 heterojunction type memristor. Diverse functions of synaptic learning, such as short-term/long-term plasticity (STP/LTP), transition from STP to LTP, learning–forgetting–relearning behaviors, associative learning and dynamic filtering, are all bio-realistically implemented in a single device. The remarkable synaptic performance is attributed to the fascinating inherent dynamics of oxygen vacancy drift and diffusion, which give rise to the coexistence of volatile- and nonvolatile-type resistive switching. This work reports a multi-functional synaptic emulator with advanced computing capability based on a simple heterostructure, showing great application potential for a compact and low-power neuromorphic computing system.