Synaptic Plasticity in PTSD and Associated Comorbidities: The Function and Mechanism for Diagnostics and Therapy.

Synaptic Plasticity in PTSD and Associated Comorbidities: The Function and Mechanism for Diagnostics and Therapy. Curr Pharm Des. 2018 Nov 19;: Authors: He M, Wei JX, Mao M, Zhao GY, Tang JJ, Feng S, Lu XM, Wang YT Abstract The studying of synaptic plasticity, the ability of synaptic connections between neurons to be weakened or strengthened and specifically long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD), is one of the most active areas of research in neuroscience. The process of synaptic connections playing a crucial role in improving cognitive processes is important to the processing of information in brain. In general, the dysfunction of synaptic plasticity was involved in a wide spectrum of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including some neurodegenerative disorders. Thus, synaptic plasticity which is dysfunction reported in neurodegenerative disorders may be also involved in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety and/or memory disorder developed after experiencing natural disasters, domestic violence or combat-related trauma. In this review, we mainly focus on discussing the biological function and mechanism for diagnostics and therapy of synaptic plasticity in PTSD and associated comorbidities, such as schizophrenia, depression, sleep disturbances and alcohol dependence, and further study the molecular mechanisms of PTSD with a particular focus on the LTP/LTD, glutamatergic ligand-receptor systems, ...
Source: Current Pharmaceutical Design - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Curr Pharm Des Source Type: research