Neuronal activity drives matching of pre- and postsynaptic function during synapse maturation

The structure and function of presynaptic and postsynaptic compartments varies markedly in neurons, but little is known about how they are functionally arranged with respect to each other. In rat hippocampal neurons, we found that, although they are structurally correlated from the early moments of formation, synapses only gradually become functionally matched and that this process is dependent on ongoing electrical activity.