| Abstract No.: | A-B1052 |
| Country: | Canada |
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| Title: | VISUAL INPUT INDUCES LONG TERM POTENTIATION OF EVOKED CALCIUM RESPONSES IN THE INTACT UNANESTHETIZED DEVELOPING BRAIN. |
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| Authors/Affiliations: | 1 Derek Dunfield*; 1 Kurt Haas;
1 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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| Content: | Objectives : Throughout early development, groups of sensory neurons refine their synaptic connections to respond to a specific set of external stimuli or receptive field (RF). While many experiments have investigated the shape and size of the neuronal groups associated with RFs, it is still unclear to what extent activity dependent mechanisms shape RFs during development.
Materials and Methods : In the retino-tectal system, natural visual stimuli can
induce long term changes in neuronal RFs. Using calcium sensitive
dyes and single cell excitability probing (SCEB), both single neuron
and group responses to visual stimuli can be measured over time.
Results : We show repetitive visual stimulation presented in a spaced paradigm causes a shift toward long term potentiation of evoked calcium responses to the stimulus. Ambient light stimulation, in contrast,shifts toward depression. These findings suggest the developing tectum is continuously refining its RFs over the period of minutes to hours.
Conclusion : Learning how RFs change in the presence of visual stimuli during development is a critical step in understanding activity's role in early circuit formation. |
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