Fluoxetine-induced plasticity in the visual cortex outlasts the duration of the naturally occurring critical period.

ABSTRACT: Heightened neuronal plasticity expressed during early postnatal life has been thought to permanently decline once critical periods have ended. For example, monocular deprivation is able to shift ocular dominance in the mouse visual cortex during the first months of life, but this effect is lost later in life. However, various treatments, such as the antidepressant fluoxetine, can reactivate a critical period-like plasticity in the adult brain. When monocular deprivation is supplemented with chronic fluoxetine administration, a major shift in ocular dominance is produced after the critical period has ended. In the current study, we characterized the temporal patterns of fluoxetine-induced plasticity in the adult mouse visual cortex, using in vivo optical imaging. We found that artificially

SUBMITTER: Steinzeig A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6899674 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature