Synapse elimination in the central nervous system

Functional neural circuit formation during postnatal development involves the elimination of early-formed redundant synapses. In the neonatal mouse cerebellum, each Purkinje cell is innervated by multiple climbing fibers (CFs). Their synaptic strengths are initially uniform but one CF strengthens re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current opinion in neurobiology 2009-04, Vol.19 (2), p.154-161
Main Authors: Kano, Masanobu, Hashimoto, Kouichi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Brain - growth & development
Brain - physiology
Cerebellum - growth & development
Geniculate Bodies - growth & development
Geniculate Bodies - physiology
Neural Pathways - growth & development
Neural Pathways - physiology
Neurology
Psychiatry
Purkinje Cells - physiology
Retina - growth & development
Retina - physiology
Synapses - physiology
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Summary:Functional neural circuit formation during postnatal development involves the elimination of early-formed redundant synapses. In the neonatal mouse cerebellum, each Purkinje cell is innervated by multiple climbing fibers (CFs). Their synaptic strengths are initially uniform but one CF strengthens relative to other CFs during the first postnatal week. Then the weaker CFs are eliminated during the second postnatal week. Projections from the retina to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) undergo similar developmental changes, that is the elimination of the majority of inputs and strengthening of a few afferents that remain. Recent studies have clarified that in both cerebellum and LGN, synapse refinement consists of multiple phases and that distinct types of neural activity drive synaptic remodeling in each developmental phase.
ISSN:0959-4388
1873-6882
DOI:10.1016/j.conb.2009.05.002