Abstract

Although experience-dependent changes in brain inhibitory circuits are thought to play a key role during the “critical period” of brain development, the nature and timing of these changes are poorly understood. We examined the role of sensory experience in sculpting an inhibitory circuit in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) of mice by using optogenetics to map the connections between parvalbumin (PV) expressing interneurons and layer 2/3 pyramidal cells. Unilateral whisker deprivation decreased the strength and spatial range of inhibitory input provided to pyramidal neurons by PV interneurons in layers 2/3, 4 and 5. By varying the time when sensory input was removed, we determined that the critical period closes around postnatal day 14. This yields the first precise time course of critical period plasticity for an inhibitory circuit.

Details

Title
Defining a critical period for inhibitory circuits within the somatosensory cortex
Author
Lo, Shun Qiang 1 ; Sng, Judy C G 2 ; Augustine, George J 1 

 Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore; Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore; Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, USA 
 Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute of Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science and Technology (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore 
Pages
1-13
Publication year
2017
Publication date
Aug 2017
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
1957150518
Copyright
© 2017. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.