All animals must generate reliable neuronal activity to produce adaptive behaviors in an ever‐changing environment. Neural systems are thought to achieve this goal, in part, through cellular and synaptic plasticity mechanisms that stabilize electrophysiological functions. Despite strong evidence for a role in regulating neuronal properties, these plasticity mechanisms have been difficult to link to natural behaviors in animals. In this review, I discuss how animals that inhabit extreme environments can address this challenge. As an example, I highlight recent work from frogs that stop breathing for several months during hibernation and, in response, use classic mechanisms of stabilizing plasticity to support respiratory motor output shortly after emergence. Furthermore, I describe problems for neuronal stability that may benefit from the study of hibernators: how circuits with variable modes of output control stabilizing mechanisms over long time scales and why some neural systems mount robust compensatory responses and others do not. By continuing to appreciate how diverse animal groups overcome challenges in the natural environment, we will broaden our view of the role that plasticity mechanisms play in stabilizing the nervous system.

中文翻译：

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青蛙冬眠时不运动：将可稳定神经元功能的可塑性与自然环境中的行为联系起来。

所有动物都必须产生可靠的神经元活动，以在不断变化的环境中产生适应性行为。人们认为神经系统部分地通过稳定电生理功能的细胞和突触可塑性机制来实现这一目标。尽管有强有力的证据证明在调节神经元特性中起作用，但这些可塑性机制很难与动物的自然行为联系起来。在这篇评论中，我讨论了居住在极端环境中的动物如何应对这一挑战。例如，我重点介绍青蛙的最新研究成果，这些青蛙在冬眠期间会停止呼吸数月，并作为响应，使用稳定可塑性的经典机制来支持出现后不久的呼吸运动输出。此外，我描述了可能从冬眠器的研究中受益的神经元稳定性问题：具有可变模式的输出控制电路在长时间范围内的稳定机制以及为什么某些神经系统具有强大的补偿响应而另一些却没有。通过继续欣赏各种动物如何克服自然环境中的挑战，我们将拓宽对可塑性机制在稳定神经系统中所起作用的看法。