Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026
12:47
Inducing Plasticity of Astrocytic Receptors by Manipulation of Neuronal Firing Rates
Published on: March 20, 2014
Astrocyte glucocorticoid receptor signalling restricts neuronal plasticity
Bruno Gegenhuber1, Takuma Sonoda1,2, Lisa Traunmüller1
1Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Nature
|May 20, 2026
Summary
Sensory experience shapes brain development. Light exposure triggers astrocyte maturation via glucocorticoid receptor signaling, which limits neuronal plasticity and may impact neuropsychiatric disease risk.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Sensory experience is crucial for refining neural circuits during postnatal development.
- Neuronal activity guides circuit wiring, but environmental cues limiting plasticity remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate experience-dependent maturation of the mouse primary visual cortex.
- To identify environmental cues that restrain developmental plasticity.
Main Methods:
- Paired single-cell transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility sequencing in mice.
- Analysis of gene expression and chromatin changes across postnatal development.
Main Results:
- Identified activity-dependent gene programs in cortical cell types.
- Light exposure drives astrocyte maturation via glucocorticoid receptor (Nr3c1) recruitment to chromatin.
- Astrocyte glucocorticoid receptor signaling activates conserved gene programs promoting maturation and critical period closure.
Conclusions:
- Astrocyte glucocorticoid receptor signaling restricts neuronal plasticity.
- This pathway may link early-life stress to neuropsychiatric disease susceptibility.
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