Neuroscience: rewiring the adult brain.
Any analysis of plastic reorganization at a neuronal locus needs a veridical measure of changes in the functional output--that is, spiking responses of the neurons in question. In a study of the effect of retinal lesions on adult primary visual cortex (V1), Smirnakis et al. propose that there is no cortical reorganization. Their results are based, however, on BOLD (blood-oxygen-level-dependent) fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), which provides an unreliable gauge of spiking activity. We therefore question their criterion for lack of plasticity, particularly in the light of the large body of earlier work that demonstrates cortical plasticity.
Calford
Michael B
MB
School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales 2308, Australia.
Chino
Yuzo M
YM
Das
Aniruddha
A
Eysel
Ulf T
UT
Gilbert
Charles D
CD
Heinen
Stephen J
SJ
Kaas
Jon H
JH
Ullman
Shimon
S
D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008251:Macaca / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012160:Retina / Q000293:injuries / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*