Cell
Volume 135, Issue 3, 31 October 2008, Pages 422-435
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Review
The Self-Tuning Neuron: Synaptic Scaling of Excitatory Synapses

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Homeostatic synaptic scaling is a form of synaptic plasticity that adjusts the strength of all of a neuron's excitatory synapses up or down to stabilize firing. Current evidence suggests that neurons detect changes in their own firing rates through a set of calcium-dependent sensors that then regulate receptor trafficking to increase or decrease the accumulation of glutamate receptors at synaptic sites. Additional mechanisms may allow local or network-wide changes in activity to be sensed through parallel pathways, generating a nested set of homeostatic mechanisms that operate over different temporal and spatial scales.

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