Development and plasticity of the visual system

University Of California, San Francisco, San Francisco CA

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We have previously characterized the highly specific responses of neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) of anesthetized mice and found those properties to be preserved in alert mice. Recordings in V1 of alert adult mice revealed a dramatic, cortical-specific enhancement of visual responses by locomotion constituting a change in the gain of cortical responses, while preserving their specificity, resembling but much greater than the gain change produced by focal attention in higher visual areas of the primate. This proposal seeks to determine whether these enhanced responses can facilitate adult recovery of visual function in a mouse model of amblyopia, as suggested by preliminary findings, and if so by what means. It also seeks to determine the neural circuit substrates for the enhancement of visual responses by locomotion. . Understanding this circuit may guide therapeutic efforts directed to enhancing plasticity after trauma or injury.