Molecular Mechanisms for Synaptic Modification in the Visual Cortex: Interaction between Theory and Experiment
Abstract
Concurrent with the recent developments in neural network theories of learning and memory has been the experimental demonstration of experience- dependent synaptic plasticity at the highest level of the mammalian nervous system, the cerebral cortex. A neurobiological problem of extraordinary interest is to identify the molecular mechanisms which underlie this process of cortical modification. For the complex forms of plasticity evoked in neocortex by changes in the sensory environment, an essential first step in sorting out the various possibilities is to derive a set of rules that can adequately account for the observed modifications. These rules serve as a guide towards identifying candidate mechanisms that can then be tested experimentally. Hence, it can be seen that two lines of inquiry on concerning neural network theory, the other concerning molecular mechanisms of synapse modification-- converge at the level of the modification rule. We have proposed such a modification rule to explain the rich body of experimental evidence available on the experience-dependent plasticity of the feline visual cortex during early postnatal development. This theoretical form of modification is able to account for the results of a wide variety of deprivation experiments, and has led to a number of predictions that appear to have been confirmed by more recent experiments. In this chapter we shall illustrate how this theory has interacted with experiment to suggest a possible molecular basis for synapse modification in the visual cortex.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 03, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA204585
Entities
People
- Leon Cooper
- Mark Bear
Organizations
- Brown University