Cellular and molecular analysis of neuronal structure plasticity in the mammalian cortex

Despite decades of evidence for functional plasticity in the adult brain, the role of structural plasticity in its manifestation remains unclear. cpg15 is an activity-regulated gene encoding a membrane-bound ligand that coordinately regulates growth of apposing dendritic and axonal arbors and the maturation of their synapses. Here we compare cpg15 expression during normal development of the rat visual system, with that seen in response to dark rearing, monocular retinal action potential blockade, or monocular deprivation. Our results show that: (1) cpg15 expression in visual cortex correlates with the electrophysiologically mapped critical period for development of eye-specific preference in the primary visual cortex. (2) Dark rearing elevates adult levels of expression. (3) A component of cpg15 expression is activity-dependent after the peak of the critical period. (4) At the peak of the critical period, monocular deprivation decreases cpg15 expression more than monocular TTX blockade. And (5) cpg15 expression is robust and regulated by light in the superficial layers of the adult visual cortex.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Lee, Wei-Chung Allen

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Elly Nedivi.

• Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34275

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34275