Cortical Plasticity Induced by Inhibitory Neuron Transplantation

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 327; no. 5969; pp. 1145 - 1148
• Main Authors: Southwell, Derek G, Froemke, Robert C, Alvarez-Buylla, Arturo, Stryker, Michael P, Gandhi, Sunil P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 26.02.2010; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Cellular Senescence; Critical periods; Developmental biology; Dominance, Ocular; Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision; Eyes; Eyes & eyesight; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Monoculars; Neural Inhibition; Neuronal Plasticity; Neurons; Neurons - transplantation; Neuroscience; Ocular dominance; Prosencephalon - cytology; Prosencephalon - embryology; Sensory Deprivation; Synapses; Synapses - physiology; Transplantation; Transplants & implants; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Visual cortex; Visual Cortex - growth & development; Visual Cortex - physiology; Visual deprivation; Occlusion; Visual cortex; Central nervous system; Transplantation; Postnatal development; Encephalon; Eye; Visual system; Synapse; Neuron; Visual pathway; Ocular dominance; Plasticity; Critical period; Age
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1183962

Critical periods are times of pronounced brain plasticity. During a critical period in the postnatal development of the visual cortex, the occlusion of one eye triggers a rapid reorganization of neuronal responses, a process known as ocular dominance plasticity. We have shown that the transplantation of inhibitory neurons induces ocular dominance plasticity after the critical period. Transplanted inhibitory neurons receive excitatory synapses, make inhibitory synapses onto host cortical neurons, and promote plasticity when they reach a cellular age equivalent to that of endogenous inhibitory neurons during the normal critical period. These findings suggest that ocular dominance plasticity is regulated by the execution of a maturational program intrinsic to inhibitory neurons. By inducing plasticity, inhibitory neuron transplantation may facilitate brain repair.