Protein synthesis in the visual cortex is needed for ocular dominance plasticity.
Experience-dependent remodelling of neural connections progresses through stages, and early phases eventually give way to later long-lasting ones. The transition from early to late stages, often associated with structural changes, depends on protein synthesis. Suppression of cortical but not geniculate protein synthesis blocks ocular dominance plasticity at its earliest stage, suggesting that structural changes occur rapidly in the visual cortex following monocular deprivation.
Maffei
Lamberto
L
Istituto di Neuroscienze del CNR, Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56100 Pisa, Italy.
Berardi
Nicoletta
N
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D023882:Dominance, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology