A semi-persistent adult ocular dominance plasticity in visual cortex is stabilized by activated CREB

  1. Tony A. Pham1,2,3,6,7,
  2. Sarah J. Graham1,
  3. Seigo Suzuki1,
  4. Angel Barco4,
  5. Eric R. Kandel4,
  6. Barbara Gordon5, and
  7. Marvin E. Lickey5,7
  1. 1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 2Department of Ophthalmology,3 The Graduate Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98104, USA 4Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York 10032, USA 5Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA

Abstract

The adult cerebral cortex can adapt to environmental change. Using monocular deprivation as a paradigm, we find that rapid experience-dependent plasticity exists even in the mature primary visual cortex. However, adult cortical plasticity differs from developmental plasticity in two important ways. First, the effect of adult, but not juvenile monocular deprivation is strongly suppressed by administration of barbiturate just prior to recording visual evoked potentials, suggesting that the effect of adult experience can be inactivated acutely. Second, the effect of deprivation is less persistent over time in adults than in juveniles. This correlates with the known decline in CREB function during maturation of the visual cortex. To compensate for this decline in CREB function, we expressed persistently active VP16-CREB and find that it causes adult plasticity to become persistent. These results suggest that in development and adulthood, the regulation of a trans-synaptic signaling pathway controls the adaptive potential of cortical circuits.

Footnotes

  • Article published online ahead of print. Article and publication date are at http://www.learnmem.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/lm.75304.

  • 6 Present address: Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.

    • Accepted July 15, 2004.
    • Received February 6, 2004.
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