CAREER: Rejuvenation of plasticity in the mature brain

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Neural plasticity is a feature of the brain that allows people to learn new skills and adapt to new circumstances. In humans and other animals, the capacity for learning generally declines with age. However, powerful or traumatic experiences can re-open windows of opportunity for heightened neural plasticity. Researchers for this project assert that loss of vision represents one such experience that can open new avenues for learning and plasticity in the mature brain. The proposed work will test this assertion through both rigorous scientific experimentation and educational community outreach. The primary research objective of the proposal is to determine how vision loss alters the rules of plasticity in both visual and auditory cortical areas of the mouse brain. The primary educational objective of the proposal is to develop science and engineering workshops for blind and visually-impaired youth in the Atlanta area. This work has the potential to catalyze new strategies for rehabilitation and inform the design of educational environments for diverse learning needs. The central hypothesis of this research is that vision loss re-opens critical periods for plasticity throughout the brain. The proposed work will focus specifically on plasticity in the mouse visual and auditory cortices following an extended period of visual deprivation during adulthood. The investigators will first evaluate deprivation-dependent rejuvenation of thalamocortical and experience-dependent plasticity in the primary visual cortex. They then examine how auditory projections to primary visual cortex are mechanistically and functionally altered by visual deprivation. Finally, they test whether visual deprivation has the capacity to restore juvenile-like experience-dependent plasticity to the auditory cortex. This work is conducted using a combination of in-vivo and ex-vivo electrophysiology, optogenetic stimulation, and specialized rearing environments. The research is performed alongside an educational program designed to promote STEM engagement in blind and visually-impaired (BVI) youth and foster engineering empowerment within the BVI community. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.