title: Factors that are critical for plasticity in the visual cortex.
abstract: Factors that may be critical for plasticity in the visual cortex are evaluated according to three criteria. (1) Do antagonists to the factor abolish plasticity? (2) Does the concentration or activity of the factor peak with the critical period for plasticity? (3) Does rearing in the dark, which postpones the critical period, affect the factor in a similar fashion? N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors fulfil all three criteria. Metabotropic glutamate receptors fulfil two of them. Most other putative factors do not fulfil more than one.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8061, USA.
authors.forename: N W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Daw
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: X F
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Flavin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*