Molecular mechanism for loss of visual cortical responsiveness following brief monocular deprivation

Arnold J. Heynen, Bong June Yoon, Cheng Hang Liu, Hee J. Chung, Richard L. Huganir, Mark F. Bear

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271 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A dramatic form of experience-dependent synaptic plasticity is revealed in visual cortex when one eye is temporarily deprived of vision during early postnatal life. Monocular deprivation (MD) alters synaptic transmission such that cortical neurons cease to respond to stimulation of the deprived eye, but how this occurs is poorly understood. Here we show in rat visual cortex that brief MD sets in motion the same molecular and functional changes as the experimental model of homosynaptic long-term depression (LTD), and that prior synaptic depression by MD occludes subsequent induction of LTD. The mechanisms of LTD, about which there is now a detailed understanding, therefore contribute to visual cortical plasticity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)854-862
Number of pages9
JournalNature Neuroscience
Volume6
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2003 Aug 1
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank C. Orsini from the laboratory of L. Maffei (Pisa, Italy) for providing VEP software, and E. Sklar, K. Clayton, K. Miller and S. Meagher for assistance. The work was funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Eye Institute.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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