- In biological neural networks, PTP describes an increase in the amount of excitation, or inhibition a given stimulus is able to effect in a given synapse
after a rapid train of action potentials
For example, following a rapid train of action potentials
, termed a tetanus
, the synapse's ability to excite or inhibit in response to future action potentials will be enhanced over the level of excitation or inhibition it exhibited prior to the tetanus. This enhanced response to further incoming stimuli can last from seconds, up to several minutes after the tetanus has ceased.
s (that is, increases in the amount a signal on a synapse excites or inhibits due to a previous tetanus), are usually slow to onset, requiring as long as seconds to develop.
Long Term Potentiation (LTP)
- At some synapses potentiation
can last much longer; from minutes to hours, or even several days. In these cases, they are referred to as LTP or Long Term Potentiation
. The mechanisms of LTP appear to be distinct from those of PTP. They also may differ from synapse to synapse[Ref 1