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Reversal and Stabilization of Synaptic Modifications in a Developing Visual System
Qiang Zhou,Huizhong W. Tao,Mu-ming Poo*
Persistent synaptic modifications are essential for experience-dependentrefinement of developing circuits. However, in the developingXenopus retinotectal system, activity-induced synaptic modificationswere quickly reversed either by subsequent spontaneous activityin the tectum or by exposure to random visual inputs. This reversaldepended on the burst spiking and activation of the N-methyl-D-aspartatesubtype of glutamate receptors. Stabilization of synaptic modificationscan be achieved by an appropriately spaced pattern of inductionstimuli. These findings underscore the vulnerable nature ofactivity-induced synaptic modifications in vivo and suggesta temporal constraint on the pattern of visual inputs for effectiveinduction of stable synaptic modifications.
Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720–3200, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mpoo{at}uclink.berkeley.edu
