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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Slice Patch Clamp Technique for Analyzing Learning-Induced Plasticity
Published on: November 11, 2017
Neurophysiological and anatomical plasticity in the adult sensorimotor cortex
1Department of Neurology, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Ave, Box 673, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. Numa_Dancause@URMC.Rochester.edu
Abstract:
Evidence supporting the plastic capacity of the adult cortex is abundant. Changes have been associated with exposure to enriched environments, learning, peripheral lesions and central lesions. The initial loss of function caused by a lesion is generally followed by a certain amount of recovery that is believed to be due, at least in part, to adaptive plasticity. In particular, the reorganization of cortical representational maps has been associated with improvement of performance. Therefore, areas undergoing such reorganization following lesions are generally assumed to participate in the recovery. We review evidence demonstrating the remodeling of representational maps of the forelimb in adult cortex and the structural plasticity that has been coupled with it. A particular emphasis is paid to non-human primate studies and stroke.
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