A shift in protein S-palmitoylation, with persistence of growth-associated substrates, marks a critical period for synaptic plasticity in developing brain

1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean I. Patterson ◽  
J. H. P. Skene
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Plasticity ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Protein S ◽  
Developing Brain

scholarly journals Synaptic plasticity onto inhibitory neurons as a mechanism for ocular dominance plasticity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacopo Bono ◽  
Claudia Clopath
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Plasticity ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Visual Deprivation ◽  
Inhibitory Neurons ◽  
Cortical Circuits ◽  
Ocular Dominance Plasticity ◽  
Opening And Closing ◽  
Recent Experimental Work ◽  
Cortical Maturation

AbstractOcular dominance plasticity is a well-documented phenomenon allowing us to study properties of cortical maturation. Understanding this maturation might be an important step towards unravelling how cortical circuits function. However, it is still not fully understood which mechanisms are responsible for the opening and closing of the critical period for ocular dominance and how changes in cortical responsiveness arise after visual deprivation. In this article, we present a theory of ocular dominance plasticity. Following recent experimental work, we propose a framework where a reduction in inhibition is necessary for ocular dominance plasticity in both juvenile and adult animals. In this framework, two ingredients are crucial to observe ocular dominance shifts: a sufficient level of inhibition as well as excitatory-to-inhibitory synaptic plasticity. In our model, the former is responsible for the opening of the critical period, while the latter limits the plasticity in adult animals. Finally, we also provide a possible explanation for the variability in ocular dominance shifts observed in individual neurons and for the counter-intuitive shifts towards the closed eye.

scholarly journals Astrocytic Factors Controlling Synaptogenesis: A Team Play

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 2173
Author(s):  
Giuliana Fossati ◽  
Michela Matteoli ◽  
Elisabetta Menna
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Plasticity ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Synapse Formation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Astrocyte Heterogeneity ◽  
Formation Function ◽  
Circuit Development ◽  
Brain Circuit ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Conditions

Astrocytes are essential players in brain circuit development and homeostasis, controlling many aspects of synapse formation, function, plasticity and elimination both during development and adulthood. Accordingly, alterations in astrocyte morphogenesis and physiology may severely affect proper brain development, causing neurological or neuropsychiatric conditions. Recent findings revealed a huge astrocyte heterogeneity among different brain areas, which is likely at the foundation of the different synaptogenic potential of these cells in selected brain regions. This review highlights recent findings on novel mechanisms that regulate astrocyte-mediated synaptogenesis during development, and the control of synapse number in the critical period or upon synaptic plasticity.

Age-Dependent Decline in Supragranular Long-Term Synaptic Plasticity by Increased Inhibition During the Critical Period in the Rat Primary Visual Cortex

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 269-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun-Jong Jang ◽  
Kwang-Hyun Cho ◽  
Hyun-Sok Kim ◽  
Sang June Hahn ◽  
Myung-Suk Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Plasticity ◽  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Age Dependent ◽  
Layer 4 ◽  
Old Rats ◽  
Synaptic Model

Supragranular long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD) are continuously induced in the pathway from layer 4 during the critical period in the rodent primary visual cortex, which limits the use of supragranular long-term synaptic plasticity as a synaptic model for the mechanism of ocular dominance (OD) plasticity. The results of the present study demonstrate that the pulse duration of extracellular stimulation to evoke a field potential (FP) is critical to induction of LTP and LTD in this pathway. LTP and LTD were induced in the pathway from layer 4 to layer 2/3 in slices from 3-wk-old rats when FPs were evoked by 0.1- and 0.2-ms pulses. LTP and LTD were induced in slices from 5-wk-old rats when evoked by stimulation with a 0.2-ms pulse but not by stimulation with a 0.1-ms pulse. Both the inhibitory component of FP and the inhibitory/excitatory postsynaptic potential amplitude ratio evoked by stimulation with a 0.1-ms pulse were greater than the values elicited by a 0.2-ms pulse. Stimulation with a 0.1-ms pulse at various intensities that showed the similar inhibitory FP component with the 0.2-ms pulse induced both LTD and LTP in 5-wk-old rats. Thus extracellular stimulation with shorter-duration pulses at higher intensity resulted in greater inhibition than that observed with longer-duration pulses at low intensity. This increased inhibition might be involved in the age-dependent decline of synaptic plasticity during the critical period. These results provide an alternative synaptic model for the mechanism of OD plasticity.

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