Visual experience regulates gene expression in the developing striate cortex.

We have examined the regulation of expression of the genes for the neuronal growth-associated protein GAP43, the type II calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, and glutamic acid decarboxylase in the kitten visual cortex during normal postnatal development and after a period of visual deprivation. We find that the mRNA transcripts of these genes display very different patterns of normal development but are all increased in the visual cortex of animals reared in the dark. Upon exposure to light, the transcript of the GAP43 gene drops to near-normal levels within 12 hr.