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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.
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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
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