search:   NBP     Northwestern   
Jianhua Cang
Jianhua Cang, PhD

Functional Development of the Visual System

A fascinating question in neurobiology is how precise patterns of synaptic connections emerge during development. It is known that neuronal activity, both spontaneous and sensory-induced, plays an important role in the formation and maturation of neural circuits. Recent findings have uncovered two new opportunities for studying the neural basis of activity-dependent development in the mammalian visual cortex. By integrating electrophysiology, functional imaging, anatomy, and molecular biology techniques, and by taking advantage of mouse genetics, we take on these opportunities and pursue two lines of closely related research: (1) revealing the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the refinement of cortical retinotopic maps by patterned activity in the developing brain; and (2) determining how early visual experience reorganizes and fine-tunes synaptic connections in the cortex to ensure normal cortical function.


Assistant Professor
PhD, University of Virginia

e-mail Dr. Cang
ph: 847.467.0478
fax: 847.491.5211

Selected References:

• Cang, J., Renterķa, R.C., Kaneko, M., Liu, X., Copenhagen, D.R. and Stryker, M.P. (2005) Development of precise maps in visual cortex requires patterned spontaneous activity in the retina. Neuron, 48(5): 797-809

• Cang, J.*, Kaneko, M.*, Yamada, J., Woods G., Stryker, M.P., and Feldheim, D.A., (2005) Ephrin-As guide the formation of functional maps in the visual cortex. Neuron, 48(4): 577-89; *: co-first authors

• Gandhi, S.P., Cang, J. and Stryker, M.P. (2005) An eye-opening experience. Nature Neurosci. 8(1):9-10

• Cang, J. and Isaacson, J.S. (2003) In vivo whole-cell recording of odor-evoked synaptic transmission in the rat olfactory bulb. J Neurosci. 23(10):4108-16

• Cang, J. and Friesen, W.O. (2000) Sensory modification of leech swimming: rhythmic activity of ventral stretch receptors can change intersegmental phase relationships. J Neurosci. 20:7822-7829