Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Experience-dependent plasticity in adult rat barrel cortex

M E Diamond1, M Armstrong-James, F F Ebner

  • 1Institute for Developmental Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|March 1, 1993
PubMed
Summary

Recent sensory experience reshapes adult sensory cortex receptive fields (RFs). Brief whisker pairing significantly altered neuronal responses, demonstrating cortical plasticity in adult animals.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Dynamics of history-dependent perceptual judgment.

Nature communications·2021
Same author

Acetylcholine levels and choline acetyltransferase activity in turtle cortex.

Brain research·2013
Same author

Short exposure to an enriched environment accelerates plasticity in the barrel cortex of adult rats.

Neuroscience·2006
Same author

Population coding of stimulus location in rat somatosensory cortex.

Neuron·2001
Same author

The topography of tactile working memory.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2001
Same author

Cortical activation during Braille reading is influenced by early visual experience in subjects with severe visual disability: a correlational fMRI study.

Human brain mapping·2001

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory processing
  • Cortical plasticity

Background:

  • The adult brain's capacity for plasticity is a key area of research.
  • Neuronal receptive fields (RFs) are fundamental to sensory processing.
  • Understanding how sensory experience shapes RFs is crucial for comprehending neural function.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if recent sensory experience can alter neuronal receptive fields (RFs) in the adult sensory cortex.
  • To test the hypothesis that RFs are dynamically shaped by sensory input history.

Main Methods:

  • Adult rats underwent a 'whisker pairing' procedure, where specific whiskers were left intact while others were trimmed.
  • Neuronal responses in the contralateral cortical barrel D2 were measured using electrophysiology.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Responses to central (D2) and surrounding (D1, D3, C2, E2) whisker stimulation were recorded and compared between experimental and control groups.

    • Main Results:

    • Whisker pairing led to a 39% increase in response to the central whisker (D2).
    • Responses to paired surrounding whiskers increased significantly (85-100%), while responses to unpaired whiskers decreased (9-42%).
    • The relative strength of responses to paired versus unpaired whiskers shifted dramatically, indicating altered RF organization.

    Conclusions:

    • A brief period of altered sensory experience can modify cortical receptive field configurations in adult animals.
    • These findings highlight the significant plasticity of the adult sensory cortex.
    • Sensory experience plays a critical role in dynamically shaping neural circuits even after maturation.