Call for papers - Synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory

Guest Editors

Joseph M. Santin, PhD, University of Missouri, USA
Shani Stern, PhD, University of Haifa, Israel

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 8 April 2025

BMC Biology is calling for submissions to our Collection on Synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory.

This Collection aims to further the understanding on the fundamental processes that govern neural circuitry dynamics from molecular signaling to behavioral outcomes. We invite contributions from diverse vertebrate and invertebrate model systems that investigate the hallmarks of synaptic processes, including synaptic plasticity, memory formation, associative learning, long-term potentiation (LTP), long-term depression (LTD), engram formation, initial consolidation, and the role of neuromodulators such as dopamine.

Additionally, we welcome submissions exploring the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in synaptic transmission and plasticity, including the role of neurotransmitter receptors such as AMPA and NMDA, as well as the contributions of specific neuronal cell types such as pyramidal neurons and interneurons.

New Content Item This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Joseph M. Santin, PhD, University of Missouri, USA

Dr Joseph Santin leads an integrative neurobiology lab broadly interested in how the brain generates healthy activity patterns, and in turn, how neural circuits acquire energy to support their synaptic and cellular functions. These interests fall into two main projects. First, Dr Santin's team studies the cellular, molecular, and metabolic mechanisms that allow neural circuits to reduce their energy demands but maintain normal function during metabolic disturbances. Second, his lab studies plasticity mechanisms that allow neural circuits to regulate their motor output during activity disturbances. To answer these questions, Dr Santin's team uses hibernating frogs that have evolved a suite of mechanisms to accomplish these goals. This work has implications for the discovery of novel treatments of various neurological disorders, as his team is uniquely positioned discover new forms of plasticity that improve fitness of neural circuits.

Shani Stern, PhD, Sagol Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel

Prof Shani Stern is the head of the precision disease modeling lab. Her lab uses iPSC techniques to derive human neurons and brain organoids to study disease mechanisms in autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and Parkinson's disease. Prof Stern's lab uses AI models for drug discovery and diagnosis using biomarkers from the patients' neurons and blood samples. Additionally, she uses the neurophysiology of patient derived neurons to screen for drugs that alleviate phenotypes in the patients' neurons. The effective drugs are then proposed to clinicians as possible treatments.

About the Collection

BMC Biology is calling for submissions to our Collection on Synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory.

Synaptic plasticity constitutes a fundamental process crucial for shaping the brain's ability to adapt and encode experiences. At the molecular level, it involves the dynamic modulation of synaptic strength and efficacy, mediated by neurotransmitter receptors, intracellular signaling pathways, and synaptic proteins. Understanding these mechanisms has provided insights into how memories are formed and stored within neural circuits, with key brain regions such as the hippocampus and amygdala playing pivotal roles. Additionally, dysregulation of synaptic plasticity has been implicated in various neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and schizophrenia.

This Collection aims to further the understanding on the fundamental processes that govern neural circuitry dynamics from molecular signaling to behavioral outcomes. We invite contributions from diverse vertebrate and invertebrate model systems that investigate the hallmarks of synaptic processes, including synaptic plasticity, memory formation, associative learning, long-term potentiation (LTP), long-term depression (LTD), engram formation, initial consolidation, and the role of neuromodulators such as dopamine.

Additionally, we welcome submissions exploring the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in synaptic transmission and plasticity, including the role of neurotransmitter receptors such as AMPA and NMDA, as well as the contributions of specific neuronal cell types such as pyramidal neurons and interneurons.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in learning and memory formation
Role of neurotransmitter receptors in synaptic plasticity
Neural circuits underlying memory consolidation and retrieval
Implications of synaptic dysfunction in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases
Impact of synaptic alterations in motor learning
Role of synaptic transmission in cognitive development
Therapeutic strategies targeting synaptic plasticity
Synaptic remodeling after traumatic injury and implications on memory
Using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons to study mechanisms of synaptic plasticity

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing.

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editor or Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.