Long-term potentiation and cognitive drug discovery.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is the activity-dependent process by which transmission is persistently enhanced at chemical synapses in the brain. Details of the cellular mechanisms responsible for LTP are becoming clearer, as neuroscientists identify the key molecules in synaptic transmission, and also the signaling cascades, transcription factors and effector molecules that alter transmission at potentiated synapses. In this review we describe the contributions of pharmacology to the field of synaptic plasticity, and also discuss the role of LTP in developing potential nootropic drugs to enhance learning and memory.