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Transmission Electron Microscopy as the Visualization Technique for Analysis of Circadian Synaptic Plasticity in the Mouse Barrel Cortex
Published on: August 19, 2025
Molecular correlates of cortical network modulation by long-term sensory experience in the adult rat barrel cortex
Astrid Vallès1, Ivica Granic1, Peter De Weerd1
1Department of Neurocognition, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, 6229 EV Maastricht, The Netherlands Department of Molecular Animal Physiology, Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour (Centre for Neuroscience), Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Modulation of cortical network connectivity is crucial for an adaptive response to experience. In the rat barrel cortex, long-term sensory stimulation induces cortical network modifications and neuronal response changes of which the molecular basis is unknown. Here, we show that long-term somatosensory stimulation by enriched environment up-regulates cortical expression of neuropeptide mRNAs and down-regulates immediate-early gene (IEG) mRNAs specifically in the barrel cortex, and not in other brain regions. The present data suggest a central role of neuropeptides in the fine-tuning of sensory cortical circuits by long-term experience.
