The regulatory role of long-term depression in juvenile and adult mouse ocular dominance plasticity

Sci Rep. 2011:1:203. doi: 10.1038/srep00203. Epub 2011 Dec 21.

Abstract

The study of experience-dependent ocular dominance (OD) plasticity has greatly contributed to the understanding of visual development. During the critical period, preventing input from one eye results in a significant impairment of vision, and loss of cortical responsivity via the deprived eye. Residual ocular dominance plasticity has recently been observed in adulthood. Accumulating evidence suggests that OD plasticity involves N-methyl-(D)-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-dependent long-term depression (LTD). Here we report that the administration of a selective LTD antagonist prevented the ocular dominance shift during the critical period. The NMDAR co-agonist D-serine facilitated adult visual cortical LTD and the OD shift in short-term monocularly deprived (MD) adult mice. When combined with reverse suture, D-serine proved effective in restoring a contralaterally-dominated visual input pattern in long-term MD mice. This work suggests LTD as a key mechanism in both juvenile and adult ocular dominance plasticity, and D-serine as a potential therapeutic in human amblyopic subjects.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cerebral Cortex / metabolism
  • Cerebral Cortex / pathology
  • Dominance, Ocular*
  • Electrophysiology / methods
  • Long-Term Synaptic Depression*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Neuronal Plasticity / physiology
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Receptors, AMPA / metabolism
  • Receptors, AMPA / physiology*
  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / metabolism*
  • Serine / chemistry
  • Time Factors
  • Vision, Ocular
  • Visual Pathways

Substances

  • Peptides
  • Receptors, AMPA
  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate
  • Serine
  • glutamate receptor ionotropic, AMPA 2