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Excitatory-Inhibitory Balance Controls Critical Period Plasticity

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Excitatory-Inhibitory Balance

Abstract

Neuronal circuits are shaped by their activity during ‘critical’ or ‘sensitive periods’ in development. Initially spontaneous, then early sensory-evoked patterns of action potentials, are required to sculpt the remarkably complex connectivity found in the adult brain, which then loses this extraordinary level of plasticity. Whether it is the targeting of individual axons or the acquisition of language, there is no doubt that dramatic re-wiring is most powerful early in postnatal life. Despite decades of similar robust observations across a wide spectrum of brain functions, only recently have we begun to understand the cellular basis that may underlie this fundamental process. The ability to freely switch on or off critical period mechanisms confirms the very existence of such special stages of heightened plasticity. In this chapter, we will focus on a newfound perspective of excitatory-inhibitory balance within cortical circuits that has finally granted us this control.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lab for Neuronal Circuit Development, Critical Period Mechanisms Research Group, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan

    Michela Fagiolini & Takao K. Hensch

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  1. Michela Fagiolini
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  2. Takao K. Hensch
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako-shi, Japan

    Takao K. Hensch  & Michela Fagiolini  & 

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Fagiolini, M., Hensch, T.K. (2003). Excitatory-Inhibitory Balance Controls Critical Period Plasticity. In: Hensch, T.K., Fagiolini, M. (eds) Excitatory-Inhibitory Balance. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0039-1_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0039-1_18

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4895-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0039-1

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