Plasticity of inhibitory synapses in the brain: a possible memory mechanism that has been overlooked.

Long-term modification of transmission efficacy at inhibitory synapses has recently been discovered in several regions of the vertebrate brain, i.e. Mauthner cells of the goldfish, cerebellar Purkinje cells, deep cerebellar nuclei and the visual cortex. Synaptic plasticity at inhibitory synapses has properties similar to that of excitatory synapses, such as dependency on intracellular Ca2+ levels, input specificity, saturation and associativity. Considering the ubiquitous distribution of inhibitory synapses and the receptors for inhibitory transmitters, GABA and glycine, plasticity of inhibitory synapses may exist widely throughout the brain. It may contribute to learning and development in concert with plasticity of excitatory synapses.