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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Neurosci Res. 2016 Dec 10;116:60–69. doi: 10.1016/j.neures.2016.12.003

FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 1

Stages of excitatory synaptic development and two forms of adult synaptic plasticity. The synaptic development stage occurs in distinct steps: 1) axon elongation and targeting, 2) synaptic differentiation, and 3) synaptic refinement. Synaptic refinement is regulated by neuronal activity and includes both the maturation of active synapses and the elimination of inactive ones. In the adult, synapses undergo further activity-dependent modification primarily via two forms of synaptic plasticity: Hebbian plasticity and homeostatic plasticity. Non-activity dependent cleavage of CAMs contributes to the first two stages of synaptic development. Then, activity-dependent proteolytic cleavage of CAMs regulates synaptic maturation and adult plasticity.