MATURATION AND PLASTICITY IN THE OLFACTORY SYSTEM

下面提出的实验旨在研究 嗅球及其主要的突触目标，前嗅球 核和初级嗅皮层。 嗅觉系统已经被选定 原因有几个。首先，它是高度组织化的， 早期发展的定量检查， 变化相对容易辨别。许多有趣的早期形式 可塑性已被证明在系统中，包括感应组织 相互作用和对早期刺激的实质性敏感性。的确早 单方面的气味剥夺已经被反复证明会导致 一些最大的经验引起的变化，观察到在中央 神经系统 因此，该区域提供了相当大的潜力， 研究环境因素有助于 说明早期生长。 提出了两组实验。第一个继续我们的 大鼠嗅球早期发育的定量检测 它强调研究功能活动的改变如何影响 鳞茎生长具体而言，我们将研究： 蛋白质合成的模式，无论是在正常发展和剥夺 灯泡检查嗅觉系统的早期细胞生物学 球状神经胶质细胞群发育的变化。 另一组研究调查了灰色短尾白尾藓的早期鳞茎生长情况， 负鼠Monodelphis幼仔出生在一个非常不成熟的 状态，并且很容易进行早期实验操作， 对早期组织相互作用的深入研究。具体实验 包括以下步骤： 早期功能剥夺的检查，以衡量活动如何 影响早期生长。 球茎摘除对高等植物生长发育影响的评估 嗅觉结构。总之，拟议的研究将探讨 早期的发展过程，如指导性的互动， 发生在组织之间，传入活动在生长中的作用， 分化

The experiments proposed below are designed to examine development in the olfactory bulb and its principal synaptic targets, the anterior olfactory nucleus and primary olfactory cortex. The olfactory system has been chosen for several reasons. First, it is highly organized, facilitating quantitative examinations of early development and making subtle alterations relatively easy to discern. Many interesting forms of early plasticity have been demonstrated in the system, including inductive tissue interactions and substantial sensitivity to early stimutation. Indeed early unilateral odor deprivation has been repeatedly demonstrated to result in some of the largest experience-induced changes observed in the central nervous system. As a result the region affords considerable potential for examinations of the mechanisms by which environmental factors help to specify early growth. Two groups of experiments are proposed. The first continues our quantitative examination of early olfactory bulb development in the rat which emphasizes studies of how alterations in functional activity affect bulb growth. Specifically, we will examine: patterns of protein synthesis both in normally developing and deprived bulbs to examine the early cell biology of the olfactory system changes in the development of bulb glia populations. Another set of studies examines early bulb growth in the gray, short-tailed opossum Monodelphis domestics. Monodelphis pups are born in a very immature state, and are quite accessible to early experimental manipulation allowing in depth examinations of early tissue interactions. Specific experiments include: examinations of early functional deprivation to gauge how activity influences early growth. assessment of the effects of bulb removal on the development of higher order olfactory structures. In summary, the proposed research will explore early developmental processes such as the instructive interactions which occur between tissues and the role of afferent activity in growth and differentiation.