Although circuit plasticity is manifested in the activities of excitatory neurons, other local factors like interneurons and glial cells have been gradually recognized as critical players in modulating circuit changes. It remains unclear how they change and influence excitatory neurons to achieve plasticity, due to technical challenges like sparsity, lack of spiking activity, and diverse subtype responses.
We will address this question by taking advantage of genetic labelling, chronic 2-photon imaging, and dual-cell recordings to track the activity patterns of excitatory neurons and genetically labeled interneurons during visual plasticity to identify how specific subtypes of interneurons change their synaptic connectivity and alter the circuit. We will also employ inducible transgenic lines and pharmacological manipulation to examine other factors like glial cells and pericytes in the blood vessels.
We will address this question by taking advantage of genetic labelling, chronic 2-photon imaging, and dual-cell recordings to track the activity patterns of excitatory neurons and genetically labeled interneurons during visual plasticity to identify how specific subtypes of interneurons change their synaptic connectivity and alter the circuit. We will also employ inducible transgenic lines and pharmacological manipulation to examine other factors like glial cells and pericytes in the blood vessels.
