long-term potentiation

noun

: a long-lasting strengthening of the response of a postsynaptic nerve cell to stimulation across the synapse that occurs with repeated stimulation and is thought to be related to learning and long-term memory

—abbreviation LTP

Examples of long-term potentiation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The downside is that long-term potentiation is not the only mechanism by which our brains store information. —Megan Molteni, STAT, 15 Nov. 2021

All animals that have long-term memories use this same basic cellular machinery; scientists worked out the details of long-term potentiation by studying California sea slugs. —Michael Greshko, National Geographic, 4 Mar. 2019

Sleep appears to be important for long-term potentiation, a strengthening of signals between neurons that is widely regarded as a mechanism of learning and memory. —Steven C. Pan, Scientific American, 25 Oct. 2016

In the 1990s, Malenka and Nicoll were at the center of the race to unravel the precise chemical processes underlying this phenomenon, known as long-term potentiation (LTP). —Adam Piore, Discover Magazine, 1 Apr. 2015

Word History

First Known Use

1969, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for long-term potentiation

• acclimatisation
• acclimatization
• acidification
• actualization
• annualization
• autocorrelation
• autoregulation
• beatification
• beneficiation
• biodegradation
• biotransformation
• bureaucratization

Medical Definition

long-term potentiation

noun

: a long-lasting strengthening of the response of a postsynaptic nerve cell to stimulation across the synapse that occurs with repeated stimulation and is thought to be related to learning and long-term memory

First they repeatedly stimulated hippocampal neurons with an electric current and showed that long-term potentiation had taken place: the neurons were more sensitive to later stimulation, even an hour or more later, and more likely to transmit electric signals to their neighbors.

—Discover

—abbreviation LTP