A multi-component model of the developing retinocollicular pathway incorporating axonal and synaptic growth.

ABSTRACT: During development, neurons extend axons to different brain areas and produce stereotypical patterns of connections. The mechanisms underlying this process have been intensively studied in the visual system, where retinal neurons form retinotopic maps in the thalamus and superior colliculus. The mechanisms active in map formation include molecular guidance cues, trophic factor release, spontaneous neural activity, spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP), synapse creation and retraction, and axon growth, branching and retraction. To investigate how these mechanisms interact, a multi-component model of the developing retinocollicular pathway was produced based on phenomenological approximations of each of these mechanisms. Core assumptions of the model were that the probabilities of axonal

SUBMITTER: Godfrey KB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2782179 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature