Sleep and neural plasticity in developing neocortex

描述(由申请人提供)： 这项应用提出了神经生理学研究，以确定睡眠在哺乳动物视觉皮质的发育和可塑性中的作用。我们先前的研究已经证明，在猫视觉发育的关键时期，睡眠在单眼剥夺(MD)引起的可塑性中起到了作用。这些发现表明睡眠在发育中的大脑中扮演着重要的角色，并对我们理解皮质可塑性、学习和记忆以及睡眠的功能具有重要的意义。除了提供对这些研究领域的见解外，拟议的研究还应提供有关睡眠在人类神经发育中的作用以及睡眠不足对发育中的大脑的长期后果的重要信息。 这项研究的总体目标是确定快速眼动睡眠(REM)和非快速眼动睡眠对视觉皮质发育可塑性的两种形式的贡献。在猫的关键时期，短时间的MD会触发初级视觉皮质丘脑皮质回路的快速重塑，有利于睁开眼睛。一种相关形式的突触可塑性，通过打开之前关闭的眼睛和关闭之前打开的眼睛(反向MD)可以产生皮质功能的恢复。我们将首先确定每种睡眠状态对MD诱发的大脑皮层可塑性的贡献。然后，我们将确定睡眠对皮质可塑性的影响是否通过REM睡眠或非REM睡眠中存在的神经活动模式来调节。然后，我们将研究睡眠在反向MD诱发的皮质可塑性中的作用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application proposes neurophysiological studies to determine the role of sleep in the development and plasticity of the mammalian visual cortex. Our previous research has demonstrated a role for sleep in the plasticity elicited by monocular deprivation (MD) during the critical period for visual development in the cat. These findings suggest an important role for sleep in the developing brain and have important implications for our understanding of cortical plasticity, learning and memory, and the function of sleep. In addition to providing insights into these areas of study, the proposed studies should provide important information regarding the role of sleep in human neural development, and the long-term consequences of sleep loss on the developing brain. The overall goal of the proposed studies is to determine the contribution of rapid-eye-movement (REM) and nonREM sleep to two forms of developmental plasticity in visual cortex. Short periods of MD during the cat critical period trigger rapid remodeling of thalamocortical circuits in primary visual cortex in favor of the open eye. A related form of synaptic plasticity, elicited by opening the previously closed eye and closing the previously open eye (reverse-MD) can produce recovery of cortical function. We will first determine the contribution of each sleep state to the cortical plasticity elicited by MD. We will then determine if the effects of sleep on cortical plasticity are mediated by the patterns of neural activity present in REM or nonREM sleep. We will then investigate the role of sleep in the cortical plasticity elicited by reverse-MD.