Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)


Print Feedback Export to File
6783893 
Journal Article 
Critical period plasticity in local cortical circuits 
Hensch, TK; , 
2005 
1 
Nature Reviews. Neuroscience
ISSN: 1471-003X
EISSN: 1471-0048 
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP 
LONDON 
877-888 
16261181 
WOS:000232990600016 
Neuronal circuits in the brain are shaped by experience during 'critical periods' in early postnatal life. In the primary visual cortex, this activity-dependent development is triggered by the functional maturation of local inhibitory connections and driven by a specific, late-developing subset of interneurons. Ultimately, the structural consolidation of competing sensory inputs is mediated by a proteolytic reorganization of the extracellular matrix that occurs only during the critical period. The reactivation of this process, and subsequent recovery of function in conditions such as amblyopia, can now be studied with realistic circuit models that might generalize across systems.