General
Host:
Christiaan Levelt - Group leader Levelt group.
Guest speaker:
Prof. Dr. Helmut Kessels
Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences,
University of Amsterdam
Title:
AMPA-receptor plasticity in health and disease.
Abstract:
AMPA-receptor plasticity controls adaptive behavior. Glutamatergic synapses have predominantly two types AMPA-receptors: those containing subunit GluA1 and those containing GluA3. GluA1- and GluA3-containing AMPARs have a different form of synaptic plasticity. Whereas the first plays a critical role in learning, the latter appears to play a role in the processing of learned information during sleep. In Alzheimer disease models, amyloid-beta oligomers trigger the loss of GluA3-containing synapses, leading to an impairment in memory processing. AMPA-receptor plasticity is also involved in other types of adaptive responses, such as an improvement in health when enjoying a high social status.