Hebbian theory

Hebbian theory describes a basic mechanism for synaptic plasticity wherein an increase in synaptic efficacy arises from the presynaptic cell's repeated and persistent stimulation of the postsynaptic cell. It was introduced by Donald Hebb in 1949 and states that:

Let us assume that the persistence or repetition of a reverberatory activity (or "trace") tends to induce lasting cellular changes that add to its stability.... When an axon of cell A is near enough to excite a cell B and repeatedly or persistently takes part in firing it, some growth process or metabolic change takes place in one or both cells such that A's efficiency, as one of the cells firing B, is increased.

The theory is often summarized as cells that fire together, wire together, though this is an oversimplification of the nervous system and should not be taken literally.

Related topics

• Hebbian learning
• long-term potentiation
• memory

References

• Hebb, D.O. (1949) The organization of behavior. Wiley, New York.