Dynamic remodeling of dendritic arbors in GABAergic interneurons of adult visual cortex.
Despite decades of evidence for functional plasticity in the adult brain, the role of structural plasticity in its manifestation remains unclear. To examine the extent of neuronal remodeling that occurs in the brain on a day-to-day basis, we used a multiphoton-based microscopy system for chronic in vivo imaging and reconstruction of entire neurons in the superficial layers of the rodent cerebral cortex. Here we show the first unambiguous evidence (to our knowledge) of dendrite growth and remodeling in adult neurons. Over a period of months, neurons could be seen extending and retracting existing branches, and in rare cases adding new branch tips. Neurons exhibiting dynamic arbor rearrangements were GABA-positive non-pyramidal interneurons, while pyramidal cells remained stable. These results are consistent with the idea that dendritic structural remodeling is a substrate for adult plasticity and they suggest that circuit rearrangement in the adult cortex is restricted by cell type-specific rules.
Lee
Wei-Chung Allen
WC
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Huang
Hayden
H
Feng
Guoping
G
Sanes
Joshua R
JR
Brown
Emery N
EN
So
Peter T
PT
Nedivi
Elly
E
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003712:Dendrites / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D051379:Mice; D051381:Rats; D013997:Time Factors; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid