Journal
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 20, Issue 12, Pages 1715-+Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41593-017-0002-3
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Funding
- European Union's Horizon Research and Innovation Programme [720270]
- AgentschapNL
- NWO [823.02.001, 863.12.006, 864.10.010]
- Stichting Blindenhulp
- Praktijkgenerator b.v.
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During critical periods of development, experience shapes cortical circuits, resulting in the acquisition of functions used throughout life. The classic example of critical-period plasticity is ocular dominance (OD) plasticity, which optimizes binocular vision but can reduce the responsiveness of the primary visual cortex (V1) to an eye providing low-grade visual input. The onset of the critical period of OD plasticity involves the maturation of inhibitory synapses within V1, specifically those containing the GABA(A) receptor alpha 1 subunit. Here we show that thalamic relay neurons in mouse dorsolateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) also undergo OD plasticity. This process depends on thalamic alpha 1-containing synapses and is required for consolidation of the OD shift in V1 during long-term deprivation. Our findings demonstrate that thalamic inhibitory circuits play a central role in the regulation of the critical period. This has far-reaching consequences for the interpretation of studies investigating the molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating critical periods of brain development.
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