Mechanisms of ocular dominance plasticity in the juvenile and adult mouse visual cortex

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Vita.Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-185).Ocular dominance (OD) plasticity is a classic example of bidirectional experience-dependent plasticity in the primary visual cortex. This form of plasticity is most robust during early postnatal development (termed the "critical period"), when monocular deprivation (MD) leads to a rapid weakening of responses evoked through the deprived eye followed by a delayed strengthening of non-deprived eye inputs. It has been proposed that these bidirectional changes occur as a three-stage process: first, degradation of patterned visual input weakens deprived-eye responses via homosynaptic long-term depression (LTD); this is accompanied by a shift in the plasticity modification threshold (0m) that determines the direction of synaptic plasticity, such that synaptic strengthening is favored over synaptic weakening; finally, weak open-eye responses are strengthened via the mechanisms of homosynaptic long-term potentiation (LTP). Despite the growing evidence supporting this model of experience-dependent synaptic modification, the exact molecular and synaptic mechanisms that are responsible for these processes remain controversial. In my thesis work, I address three questions. First, I attempt to parse the relative contribution of excitatory and inhibitory processes to expression of the OD shift in order to understand how deprived-eye depression is expressed in the cortex. To address this, I first induce a shift in OD with 3 days of MD and then use several pharmacological methods to shut off cortical inhibitory synaptic transmission. I demonstrate that rapid deprived-eye depression is strongly expressed at excitatory thalamocortical synapses without any influences of polysynaptic intracortical inhibition. In the second part of my work, I try to resolve the nature/identity of the molecular mechanism that underlies the regulation of [theta]m. Using a transgenic mouse model, I find that a reduction in the NR2A/B subunit ratio of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor during MD alters the qualities of OD plasticity by impairing weakening of deprived-eye inputs and enhancing strengthening of open-eye inputs. These findings suggest that NMDAR subunit composition may specify the value and the rate of adjustment of synaptic 0m, which in turn determines the bidirectional cortical response to MD. The final portion of my thesis addresses the factors that limit OD plasticity beyond the critical period. I test the hypothesis that the developmental increase in intracortical GABAergic inhibitory synaptic transmission is a fundamental restricting factor for adult cortical plasticity and demonstrate that parvalbumin-expressing fast-spiking basket cells are specifically implicated in the absence of juvenile-like deprived-eye depression in adult mice.by Lena A. Khibnik.Ph.D

A neural network model of normal and abnormal learning and memory consolidation

The amygdala and hippocampus interact with thalamocortical systems to regulate cognitive-emotional learning, and lesions of amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, and cortex have different effects depending on the phase of learning when they occur. In examining eyeblink conditioning data, several questions arise: Why is the hippocampus needed for trace conditioning where there is a temporal gap between the conditioned stimulus offset and the onset of the unconditioned stimulus, but not needed for delay conditioning where stimuli temporally overlap and co-terminate? Why do amygdala lesions made before or immediately after training decelerate conditioning while those made later have no impact on conditioned behavior? Why do thalamic lesions degrade trace conditioning more than delay conditioning? Why do hippocampal lesions degrade recent learning but not temporally remote learning? Why do cortical lesions degrade temporally remote learning, and cause amnesia, but not recent or post-lesion learning? How is temporally graded amnesia caused by ablation of medial prefrontal cortex? How are mechanisms of motivated attention and the emergent state of consciousness linked during conditioning? How do neurotrophins, notably Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), influence memory formation and consolidation? A neural model, called neurotrophic START, or nSTART, proposes answers to these questions. The nSTART model synthesizes and extends key principles, mechanisms, and properties of three previously published brain models of normal behavior. These three models describe aspects of how the brain can learn to categorize objects and events in the world; how the brain can learn the emotional meanings of such events, notably rewarding and punishing events, through cognitive-emotional interactions; and how the brain can learn to adaptively time attention paid to motivationally important events, and when to respond to these events, in a context-appropriate manner. The model clarifies how hippocampal adaptive timing mechanisms and BDNF may bridge the gap between stimuli during trace conditioning and thereby allow thalamocortical and corticocortical learning to take place and be consolidated. The simulated data arise as emergent properties of several brain regions interacting together. The model overcomes problems of alternative memory models, notably models wherein memories that are initially stored in hippocampus move to the neocortex during consolidation

Adaptive map alignment in the superior colliculus of the barn owl: a neuromorphic implementation

Adaptation is one of the basic phenomena of biology, while adaptability is an important feature for neural network. Young barn owl can well adapt its visual and auditory integration to the environmental change, such as prism wearing. At first, a mathematical model is introduced by the related study in biological experiment. The model well explained the mechanism of the sensory map realignment through axongenesis and synaptogenesis. Simulation results of this model are consistent with the biological data. Thereafter, to test the model’s application in hardware, the model is implemented into a robot. Visual and auditory signals are acquired by the sensors of the robot and transferred back to PC through bluetooth. Results of the robot experiment are presented, which shows the SC model allowing the robot to adjust visual and auditory integration to counteract the effects of a prism. Finally, based on the model, a silicon Superior Colliculus is designed in VLSI circuit and fabricated. Performance of the fabricated chip has shown the synaptogenesis and axogenesis can be emulated in VLSI circuit. The circuit of neural model provides a new method to update signals and reconfigure the switch network (the chip has an automatic reconfigurable network which is used to correct the disparity between signals). The chip is also the first Superior Colliculus VLSI circuit to emulate the sensory map realignment

Critical period plasticity and sensory function in a neuroligin-3 model of autism

Extensive experience-dependent refinement of cortical circuits is restricted to critical periods of plasticity early in life. The timing of these critical periods is tightly regulated by the relative levels of excitatory and inhibitory (E/I) neurotransmission during development. Genetic disruption of synaptic proteins that normally maintain E/I balance can result in severe behavioral dysfunction in neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, but the mechanisms are unclear. We propose that abnormal critical periods of sensory circuit refinement could represent a key link between E/I imbalance and the cognitive and behavioral problems in autism