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Critical periods in amblyopia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2018

TAKAO K. HENSCH  and
ELIZABETH M. QUINLAN
TAKAO K. HENSCH*
Affiliation:
FM Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
ELIZABETH M. QUINLAN*
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
*
*Address correspondence to: Takao K. Hensch. E-mail: hensch@mc.harvard.edu or Elizabeth M. Quinlan. E-mail: equinlan@umd.edu
*Address correspondence to: Takao K. Hensch. E-mail: hensch@mc.harvard.edu or Elizabeth M. Quinlan. E-mail: equinlan@umd.edu
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Abstract

The shift in ocular dominance (OD) of binocular neurons induced by monocular deprivation is the canonical model of synaptic plasticity confined to a postnatal critical period. Developmental constraints on this plasticity not only lend stability to the mature visual cortical circuitry but also impede the ability to recover from amblyopia beyond an early window. Advances with mouse models utilizing the power of molecular, genetic, and imaging tools are beginning to unravel the circuit, cellular, and molecular mechanisms controlling the onset and closure of the critical periods of plasticity in the primary visual cortex (V1). Emerging evidence suggests that mechanisms enabling plasticity in juveniles are not simply lost with age but rather that plasticity is actively constrained by the developmental up-regulation of molecular ‘brakes’. Lifting these brakes enhances plasticity in the adult visual cortex, and can be harnessed to promote recovery from amblyopia. The reactivation of plasticity by experimental manipulations has revised the idea that robust OD plasticity is limited to early postnatal development. Here, we discuss recent insights into the neurobiology of the initiation and termination of critical periods and how our increasingly mechanistic understanding of these processes can be leveraged toward improved clinical treatment of adult amblyopia.

Keywords

GABAParvalbuminPerineuronal netDark exposureAcetylcholinePSD-95HDAC
Type
Perspective
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 35 , 2018 , E014
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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