Bistable parvalbumin circuits pivotal for brain plasticity.
Experience shapes brain function throughout life to varying degrees. In a recent issue of Nature, Donato et al. identify reversible shifts in focal parvalbumin cell state during adult learning, placing it on a mechanistic continuum with developmental critical periods. A disinhibitory microcircuit controls the plasticity switch to modulate memory formation.
Center for Brain Science, Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: hensch@mcb.harvard.edu.
Takao K
TK
Hensch
D000818:Animals; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D007395:Interneurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D010320:Parvalbumins / Q000378:metabolism*
D010320:Parvalbumins