NMDA-type glutamate receptors (NMDARs) mediate many forms of synaptic plasticity. These
tetrameric receptors consist of two obligatory NR1 subunits and two regulatory subunits …

Brain function relies on the ability of neural networks to maintain stable levels of activity,
while experiences sculpt them. In the neocortex, the balance between activity and stability …

Early sensory experience instructs the maturation of neural circuitry in the cortex,. This has
been studied extensively in the primary visual cortex, in which loss of vision to one eye …

Developmental myelination is a protracted process in the mammalian brain. One theory for
why oligodendrocytes mature so slowly posits that myelination may stabilize neuronal …

Cortical plasticity is most evident during a critical period in early life, but the mechanisms that
restrict plasticity after the critical period are poorly understood. We found that a …

Recently evidence has accumulated that many neural networks exhibit self-organized
criticality. In this state, activity is similar across temporal scales and this is beneficial with …

Parvalbumin-positive neurons are the largest class of GABAergic, inhibitory neurons in the
central nervous system. In the cortex, these fast-spiking cells provide feedforward and …

We compare the circuit and cellular mechanisms for homeostatic plasticity that have been
discovered in rodent somatosensory (S1) and visual (V1) cortex. Both areas use similar …

Elevated states of brain plasticity typical for critical periods of early postnatal life can be
reinstated in the adult brain through interventions, such as antidepressant treatment and …

Visual experience scales down excitatory synapses in the superficial layers of visual cortex
in a process that provides an in vivo paradigm of homeostatic synaptic scaling. Experience …