Activity-Dependent Plasticity in Development

Neural impulse activity has a critical influence on the structure and function of the nervous system at late stages of development and early postnatal life. The long-range goal of this program is to provide a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in regulating development and plasticity of the nervous system according to functional experience. In pursuing this goal our principal objectives are: (1) to identify genes that can be regulated by appropriate patterns of neural impulses and that have important structural and functional effects on nervous system development and plasticity; (2) to identify the molecular mechanisms regulating gene expression in response to appropriate patterns of action potential firing; and (3) to explore functional consequences of activity-dependent gene regulation in development and plasticity of the nervous system. In pursuing these objectives a multidisciplinary approach is used, combining molecular, imaging, and electrophysiological techniques in preparations of mammalian neurons and glia in vitro and in vivo.