Molecular Correlates of Cortical Network Modulation by Long-Term Sensory Experience in the Adult Rat Barrel Cortex

Modulation of cortical network connectivity is crucial for an adaptive response to experience. In the rat barrel cortex, long-term sensory stimulation induces cortical network modifications and neuronal response changes of which the molecular basis is unknown. Here, we show that long-term somatosens...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2014-06, Vol.21 (6), p.305-310
Main Authors: Vallès, Astrid, Granic, Ivica, De Weerd, Peter, Martens, Gerard J. M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Behavior
Animals
Brain Hemisphere Functions
Brief Communication
Down-Regulation
Environment, Controlled
Environmental Influences
Genes, Immediate-Early - physiology
Genetics
Molecular Structure
Nerve Net - metabolism
Neurological Organization
Neuronal Plasticity - genetics
Neurons - metabolism
Neuropeptides - metabolism
Physical Stimulation
Rats
Rats, Long-Evans
Responses
RNA, Messenger - metabolism
Sensory Experience
Somatosensory Cortex - metabolism
Stimulation
Touch - physiology
Transcriptome
Up-Regulation
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Summary:Modulation of cortical network connectivity is crucial for an adaptive response to experience. In the rat barrel cortex, long-term sensory stimulation induces cortical network modifications and neuronal response changes of which the molecular basis is unknown. Here, we show that long-term somatosensory stimulation by enriched environment up-regulates cortical expression of neuropeptide mRNAs and down-regulates immediate-early gene (IEG) mRNAs specifically in the barrel cortex, and not in other brain regions. The present data suggest a central role of neuropeptides in the fine-tuning of sensory cortical circuits by long-term experience.
ISSN:1072-0502
1549-5485
1549-5485
DOI:10.1101/lm.034827.114