Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
4323450 | Neuron | 2006 | 11 Pages |
SummarySensory experience plays an instructive role in the development of the nervous system. Here we showed that visual experience can induce persistent modification of developing retinotectal circuits via spike timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). Pairing light stimuli with spiking of the tectal cell induced persistent enhancement or reduction of light-evoked responses, with a dependence on the relative timing between light stimulus and postsynaptic spiking similar to that for STDP. Using precisely timed sequential three-bar stimulation to mimic a moving bar, we showed that spike timing-dependent LTP/LTD can account for the asymmetric modification of the tectal cell receptive field induced by moving bar. Furthermore, selective inhibition of signaling mediated by brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nitric oxide, which are respectively required for light-induced LTP and LTD, interfered with moving bar-induced temporally specific changes in the tectal cell responses. Together, these findings suggest that STDP can mediate sensory experience-dependent circuit refinement in the developing nervous system.