IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v404y2000i6774d10.1038_35004582.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Inhibitory threshold for critical-period activation in primary visual cortex

Author

Listed:
  • Michela Fagiolini

    (Laboratory for Neuronal Circuit Development, Brain Science Institute RIKEN)

  • Takao K. Hensch

    (Laboratory for Neuronal Circuit Development, Brain Science Institute RIKEN)

Abstract

Neuronal circuits across several systems display remarkable plasticity to sensory input during postnatal development1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Experience-dependent refinements are often restricted to well-defined critical periods in early life, but how these are established remains mostly unknown. A representative example is the loss of responsiveness in neocortex to an eye deprived of vision2,3,4,5,6. Here we show that the potential for plasticity is retained throughout life until an inhibitory threshold is attained. In mice of all ages lacking an isoform of GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) synthetic enzyme (GAD65), as well as in immature wild-type animals before the onset of their natural critical period, benzodiazepines selectively reduced a prolonged discharge phenotype to unmask plasticity. Enhancing GABA-mediated transmission early in life rendered mutant animals insensitive to monocular deprivation as adults, similar to normal wild-type mice. Short-term presynaptic dynamics reflected a synaptic reorganization in GAD65 knockout mice after chronic diazepam treatment. A threshold level of inhibition within the visual cortex may thus trigger, once in life, an experience-dependent critical period for circuit consolidation, which may otherwise lie dormant.

Suggested Citation

  • Michela Fagiolini & Takao K. Hensch, 2000. "Inhibitory threshold for critical-period activation in primary visual cortex," Nature, Nature, vol. 404(6774), pages 183-186, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:404:y:2000:i:6774:d:10.1038_35004582
    DOI: 10.1038/35004582
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/35004582
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/35004582?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fabian Heim & Ezequiel Mendoza & Avani Koparkar & Daniela Vallentin, 2024. "Disinhibition enables vocal repertoire expansion after a critical period," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Gregg Wildenberg & Hanyu Li & Vandana Sampathkumar & Anastasia Sorokina & Narayanan Kasthuri, 2023. "Isochronic development of cortical synapses in primates and mice," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:404:y:2000:i:6774:d:10.1038_35004582. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.