Horng Sam H, Sur Mriganka
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Prog Brain Res. 2006;157:3-11. doi: 10.1016/s0079-6123(06)57001-3.
The mammalian cortex is organized anatomically into discrete areas, which receive, process, and transmit neural signals along functional pathways. These pathways form a system of complex networks that wire up through development and refine their connections into adulthood. Understanding the processes of cortical-pathway formation, maintenance, and experience-dependent plasticity has been among the major goals of contemporary neurobiology. In this chapter, we will discuss an experimental model used to investigate the role of activity in the patterning of cortical networks during development. This model involves the "rewiring" of visual inputs into the auditory thalamus and subsequent remodeling of the auditory cortex to process visual information. We review the molecular, cellular, and physiological mechanisms of visual "rewiring" and activity-dependent shaping of cortical networks.
哺乳动物的皮层在解剖学上被组织成离散的区域，这些区域沿着功能通路接收、处理和传递神经信号。这些通路形成了一个复杂的网络系统，该系统在发育过程中建立连接，并在成年期优化其连接。理解皮层通路的形成、维持以及依赖经验的可塑性过程一直是当代神经生物学的主要目标之一。在本章中，我们将讨论一个用于研究发育过程中活动在皮层网络模式形成中的作用的实验模型。该模型涉及将视觉输入“重新布线”到听觉丘脑，以及随后听觉皮层的重塑以处理视觉信息。我们回顾了视觉“重新布线”以及皮层网络依赖活动的塑造的分子、细胞和生理机制。
