Experience-dependent modification of mechanisms of long-term depression

Mechanisms of long-term potentiation and depression ( LTP and LTD) change considerably during development, but the importance of these changes and the factors that control them is not clear. We found that visual experience triggered a switch in mechanisms of LTD in rat perirhinal cortex, an area critical for visual recognition memory. Thus, changes in synaptic plasticity mechanisms were correlated with the changing physiological demands on the CNS.