Cited by 236Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration MechanismsNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms

Microglia: A new frontier for synaptic plasticity, learning and memory, and neurodegenerative disease research

Morris, Gary P., Clark, Ian A., Zinn, Raphael, Vissel, Bryce·2013·Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

Abstract

We focus on emerging roles for microglia in synaptic plasticity, cognition and disease. We outline evidence that ramified microglia, traditionally thought to be functionally "resting" (i.e. quiescent) in the normal brain, in fact are highly dynamic and plastic. Ramified microglia continually and rapidly extend processes, contact synapses in an activity and experience dependent manner, and play a functionally dynamic role in synaptic plasticity, possibly through release of cytokines and growth factors. Ramified microglial also contribute to structural plasticity through the elimination of synapses via phagocytic mechanisms, which is necessary for normal cognition. Microglia have numerous mechanisms to monitor neuronal activity and numerous mechanisms also exist to prevent them transitioning to an activated state, which involves retraction of their surveying processes. Based on the evidence, we suggest that maintaining the ramified state of microglia is essential for normal synaptic and structural plasticity that supports cognition. Further, we propose that change of their ramified morphology and function, as occurs in inflammation associated with numerous neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, disrupts their intricate and essential synaptic functions. In turn altered microglia function could cause synaptic dysfunction and excess synapse loss early in disease, initiating a range of pathologies that follow. We conclude that the future of learning and…

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.nlm.2013.07.002

Cites

44 of 44 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Morris, G. P., Clark, I. A., Zinn, R., & Vissel, B.
Affiliations
  • Garvan Institute of Medical Research (AU)
  • Australian National University (AU)
Corresponding author
Vissel, Bryce
Venue
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2013-10
Volume
105
Pages
40-53
ISSN
1074-7427 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2041964216
Cited by
236
References
44
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 2
FWCI
1.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
  • UTS ePRESS (University of Technology Sydney) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
Keywords
microglia, ramified microglia, synaptic plasticity, learning and memory, synaptic pruning, phagocytosis, microglial activation, neuroinflammation, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, neurodegenerative diseases, cytokine production, structural plasticity, non-neuronal cells
MeSH terms
Animals, Brain, Humans, Learning, Memory, Neuronal Plasticity, Microglia, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Mice, Rats

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review