Figure 1. Architecture of the model.

(A) Sketch of the architecture of the model. Neurotransmitter receptors, e.g. AMPA receptors, are trafficked through the dendrite and bind to ‘slots’ inside of dendritic spines. The efficacy of a synapse is assumed to be proportional to the number of receptors attached to its slots. (B) Abstract description of the stochastic process indicating the rates at which receptors move in and out of slots in the synapses and the receptor pool in the dendrite. See text for details.