Rapid homeostatic plasticity in the intact adult visual system

Neurons may possess activity-dependent homeostatic mechanisms that permit them to globally alter synaptic strength as activity varies. We used the retinotectal projection of goldfish to test this idea in the intact adult CNS. We first altered tectal neuron activity by selectively manipulating excitatory input. When excitatory synaptic drive to tectal neurons was eliminated by blocking optic fibers, current evoked at optic synapses increased by 183% within 90 min. With partial activity blockade, the increase in synaptic strength scaled with the magnitude of activity depression. This silence-induced potentiation was also rapidly reversible. Conversely, an increase in optic input was followed by a decrease in evoked synaptic current. When optic drive was not altered and tectal neuronal activity was instead increased or decreased pharmacologically via GABA(A) receptors, synaptic strength again changed inversely with activity, indicating that synaptic strength changed in response to neuronal activity and not excitatory drive. Furthermore, altered synaptic strength tended to return ongoing activity to baseline. Changes in synaptic strength could also be detected in heterosynaptic pathways, indicating a global response. Finally, changes in synaptic strength were associated with corresponding changes in ongoing and evoked firing rates, indicating that the responsivity of tectal neurons was altered. Thus, tectal neurons exhibit archetypical homeostasis, one of the first robust examples in the intact adult CNS.