Major Effects of Sensory Experiences on the Neocortical Inhibitory Circuits
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Study at a glance
- Area
- Other research
- Study type
- Controlled study
- Authors
- Jiao Y, Zhang C, Yanagawa Y, Sun QQ
- Journal
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Year
- 2006
- Protocol
- whisker trimming in mice with immunostaining and patch-clamp recording
Key findings
- Whisker trimming from day 7, but not after day 15, sharply reduced parvalbumin expression in deprived barrels
- Inhibitory perisomatic contacts and synaptic GAD65/67 staining on spiny neurons were reduced
- Evoked inhibitory postsynaptic currents were 1.5-fold smaller in deprived versus spared cortex
- Inhibitory currents in deprived cortex resembled those recorded at day 7 in immature brains
An animal study of how early sensory experience shapes inhibitory circuits in the mouse whisker (barrel) cortex. Researchers trimmed one row of whiskers starting at postnatal day 7 or after day 15, then compared deprived and spared cortex using cell staining and patch-clamp recordings. Early, but not later, deprivation reduced markers of parvalbumin-positive inhibitory cells and weakened inhibitory synaptic currents, leaving the circuits resembling those of immature brains. The authors conclude that sensory experience refines local cortical inhibition and that deprivation prunes perisomatic inhibition from basket cells.