Chapter category: Neurodegenerative Disease

A Kinase with a Vision: Role of ERK in the Synaptic Plasticity of the Visual Cortex

This chapter appears in the following book:

Brain Repair

Edited by: Mathias Bähr
ISBN: 0-306-47859-5
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «

Chapter authors:
Gian Michele Ratto and Tommaso Pizzorusso

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We look at these written words with two eyes, their neuronal representations are elabo rated separately in the two retinae and they are conveyed to two separate zones of the thalamus. The segregation in eye specific structures is broken only in the primary visual cortex, where neurons responsive to both eyes can be finally found. The cortical circuitry that brings together information from the two eyes is exquisitely tuned during the early post natal life, in a critical period in which synaptic changes are driven by the electrical activity evoked by the visual stimulation. Though the plasticity of binocular vision has served as a model for the study of synaptic plasticity for over 40 years, the identity of the molecular mechanisms involved in this process has remained elusive. Recently, we have offered evidences, gathered both in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that the Extracellular-signal Regulated Kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) plays a crucial role in the control of this form of plasticity. In this chapter we will at first describe ocular dominance in visual cortex and how it is shaped by visual activity during development. Then we will analyze the factors that are known to influence visual plasticity and their transduction pathway. Finally, we will show how the activation of this intracellular machinery is necessary for visual cortical plasticity in vitro and in vivo.

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Chapter category: Neurodegenerative Disease

A Kinase with a Vision: Role of ERK in the Synaptic Plasticity of the Visual Cortex

Additional chapters from this book:

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