Flowers and weeds: cell-type specific pruning in the developing visual thalamus.
In the first weeks of vertebrate postnatal life, neural networks in the visual thalamus undergo activity-dependent refinement thought to be important for the development of functional vision. This process involves pruning of synaptic connections between retinal ganglion cells and excitatory thalamic neurons that relay signals on to visual areas of the cortex. A recent report in Neural Development shows that this does not occur in inhibitory neurons, questioning our current understanding of the development of mature neural circuits.
Isabel
I
Benjumeda
Manuel
M
Molano-Mazón
Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante, Avenida Ramón y Cajal S/N, 03550 Sant Joan d'Alacant, Spain. l.martinez@umh.es.
Luis M
LM
Martinez
D000818:Animals; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000254:growth & development*; D007395:Interneurons / Q000502:physiology*; D012160:Retina / Q000254:growth & development*