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The Journal of Neuroscience, August 1, 2007, 27(31):8414-8421; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1101-07.2007

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
The Adult Visual Cortex Expresses Dynamic Synaptic Plasticity That Is Driven by the Light/Dark Cycle

Marian Tsanov and Denise Manahan-Vaughan

Learning and Memory Research, Medical Faculty, and International Graduate School for Neuroscience, Ruhr University, 44780 Bochum, Germany

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Denise Manahan-Vaughan, Learning and Memory Research, Medical Faculty, Ruhr University, Forum Nord Ost 1/116, Universitaetsstrasse 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany. Email: dmv-igsn{at}rub.de

Experimental evidence derived from in vitro studies suggests that synaptic plasticity may be involved in information processing in the adult sensory cortex. Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, that synaptic plasticity that endures for >24 h can be elicited in the visual cortex of freely moving adult rats. Both long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) were evoked in layer 2/3 of the primary visual cortex after stimulation of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. We found that synaptic plasticity within visual cortex synapses is not a static phenomenon, where a particular pattern of stimulation invariably evokes the same form of synaptic plasticity but rather fluctuates in association with diurnal luminance levels. Whereas acute (12 h) dark exposure drives intrinsic synaptic transmission to basal levels, light exposure (12 h) leads to synaptic potentiation. Furthermore, low-frequency stimulation at 3 Hz generates LTD in light-exposed animals, and LTP in dark-exposed animals, in close correlation with the time course of natural slow wave oscillations. Our data demonstrate that the adult visual cortex is in a perpetually dynamic state, where the direction of plasticity changes depends on the immediate visual experience.

Key words: lateral geniculate nucleus; layer 2/3; thalamocortical synapse; synaptic plasticity; in vivo; LTP

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Received Dec. 11, 2006; revised June 1, 2007; accepted June 17, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Denise Manahan-Vaughan, Learning and Memory Research, Medical Faculty, Ruhr University, Forum Nord Ost 1/116, Universitaetsstrasse 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany. Email: dmv-igsn{at}rub.de

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