Clusters of interacting receptors can stabilize synaptic efficacies.

Abstract

Synaptic weights store memories that can last a lifetime. Yet, memory depends on synaptic protein receptors that are recycled in and out of the membrane at a fast rate, possibly several times an hour. Several proposals to bridge this vast gap in time scales between memory and its molecular substrate have relied on bistable molecular switches. Here, we propose an alternative to this approach based on clusters of interacting receptors in the synaptic membrane. We show that such clusters can be metastable and that the lifetime of such clusters can be many orders of magnitude larger than the lifetime of the receptors of which they are composed. We also demonstrate how bidirectional synaptic plasticity can be implemented in this framework.