Visual Experience Facilitates BDNF-Dependent Adaptive Recruitment of New Neurons in the Postembryonic Optic Tectum.

ABSTRACT: Postembryonic brain development is sensitive to environmental input and sensory experience, but the mechanisms underlying healthy adaptive brain growth are poorly understood. Here, we tested the importance of visual experience on larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) postembryonic development of the optic tectum (OT), a midbrain structure involved in visually guided behavior. We first characterized postembryonic neurogenic growth in OT, in which new neurons are generated along the caudal tectal surface and contribute appositionally to anatomical growth. Restricting visual experience during development by rearing larvae in dim light impaired OT anatomical and neurogenic growth, specifically by reducing the survival of new neurons in the medial periventricular gray zone. Neuronal survival in

SUBMITTER: Hall ZJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6705880 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature