Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the basis of the resting membrane potentialExplain the stages of an action potential and how action potentials are propagatedExplain the similarities and differences between chemical and electrical synapsesDescribe long-term potentiation and long-term depression

Long-term potentiation, or LTP, is a process by which connections between neurons become stronger with frequent activation. LTP is thought to be a way in which the brain changes in response to experience, and thus may be an mechanism underlying learning and memory. In this video, I discuss one type of LTP: NMDA-receptor dependent LTP. I outline the mechanism underlying NMDA-receptor LTP and describe how it is thought to strengthen synaptic connections where it occurs.
Duration: 1:59.