Molecular and structural determinants of plasticity in the cerebral cortex

大脑皮层是人类最高度发达的部分，它赋予我们重要的能力和属性，例如看、感觉和听周围世界的能力，以及记忆和识别这些特征的能力。皮质还负责高级认知能力，如言语，规划，抽象和想象。大脑皮层神经元的一个关键特性是，它们能够改变彼此之间的连接，以应对环境的持续变化或伤害。这个过程被称为突触可塑性;？突触？因为突触形成神经元和神经元之间的连接。可塑性？因为一旦改变，突触就保持新的形式，直到再次改变。没有突触可塑性，大脑就无法正常发育。突触可塑性障碍可导致发育过程中的智力迟钝。突触可塑性也是正常记忆形成所必需的，在阿尔茨海默病中受损？的疾病。在中风恢复期间，需要突触可塑性以重新分配损伤后存活的细胞之间的功能。了解突触可塑性的基本机制有助于我们设想促进中风恢复、提高智力迟钝患者的学习能力和提高阿尔茨海默病患者的记忆能力的治疗方法。的疾病。这组研究旨在通过找出目前已被合理理解的可塑性早期阶段与随后发生的尚未被完全理解的可塑性结构变化之间的联系，来推进我们对突触可塑性的理解。我们将在一个相对简单的皮层区域进行这项研究，该区域与处理来自身体触觉表面的信息有关，称为躯体感觉皮层。我们将使用专门的显微镜方法直接观察神经元之间连接的物理变化，该方法允许在数天和数周内重复观察相同的神经元。我们将利用基因突变来了解控制这些物理变化的分子。我们将研究感觉体验对大脑皮层连接的影响，这与中风康复期间使用的物理治疗直接相关。这些研究的结果最终将为我们提供改善中风恢复的方法以及学习和记忆障碍的潜在治疗方法。

The cerebral cortex is most highly developed in man. It gives us important abilities and attributes such as the ability to see, feel and hear the world around us and to remember and recognise these features. The cortex is also responsible for higher order cognitive abilities such as speech, planning, abstraction and imagination. One of the key properties of the neurons in the cerebral cortex is their ability to change their connections with one another in responses to lasting changes in the environment or in response to injury. This process is known as synaptic plasticity; ?synaptic? because synapses form the connections between neurons and ?plasticity? because once changed, the synapses stay in their new form until made to change again. Without synaptic plasticity the brain is unable to develop properly. Synaptic plasticity disorders can lead to mental retardation during development. Synaptic plasticity is also required for normal memory formation and is impaired in Alzheimer?s disease. During recovery from stroke, synaptic plasticity is required in order to reassign function among the cells that survive the injury. It is beneficial for us to understand the basic mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in order to envisage therapies for enhancing recovery from stroke, for increasing the ability to learn in mental retardation and increasing the ability to remember in Alzheimer?s disease. This set of studies aims to advance our understanding of synaptic plasticity by finding out the links between the early stages of plasticity that are at present reasonably well understood and the structural changes in plasticity that ensue that are not at all well understood. We will do this in a relatively simple area of cortex concerned with processing information from the tactile surface of the body known as the somatosensory cortex. We will directly observe physical changes in the connections between neurones using a specialised microscopy method that allows repeated viewing of the same neurons over days and weeks. We will use genetic mutations to understand the molecules controlling these physical changes. We will study the effect of sensory experience on the connections in the cortex, which is of direct relevance to physiotherapy used during rehabilitation from stroke. Results from these studies should ultimately provide us with methods for improving recovery from stroke and potential therapies for learning and memory disorders.