Ethological learning during the critical period resets synaptic setpoints in mouse binocular visual cortex
- 1Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
- 2Institut Pasteur, CNRS UMR 3571, Perception and Action Unit, F-75015, Paris, France
- 3Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA. Electronic address: [email protected]
Abstract
Critical periods are developmental windows of high experience-dependent plasticity essential for the correct refinement of neuronal circuitry and function. While the consequences for the visual system of sensory deprivation during the critical period have been well-characterized, far less is known about the effects of enhanced sensory experience. Here, we use prey capture learning to assess structural and functional plasticity mediating visual learning in the primary visual cortex of critical period mice. We show that prey capture learning improves temporal frequency discrimination and drives a profound remodeling of visual circuitry through an increase in excitatory connectivity and spine turnover. This global and persistent rewiring is not observed in adult hunters and is mediated by TNFα-dependent mechanisms. Our findings demonstrate that enhanced visual experience in a naturalistic paradigm during the critical period can drive structural plasticity to improve visual function, and promotes a long-lasting increase in spine dynamics that could enhance subsequent plasticity.
Related
- Eye-specific drive and binocular suppression in mouse visual cortex during critical period development
- A synaptic locus of song learning
- Ethological variability shapes the structure and content of sensory population codes
- The ethological mirror and the olfactorily disconnected and disinhibited hypothesis: reclaiming human social efficacy and empathy through interspecies sensory alignment
- Synaptic proteomics identifies cathepsin B as a regulator of synapse remodelling during learning
BibTeX
@article{bissen2026ethological,
title = {{Ethological learning during the critical period resets synaptic setpoints in mouse binocular visual cortex}},
author = {Diane Bissen and Brian A. Cary and Amanda Zhang and Wei Wen and Kurt A. Sailor and Stephen D. Van Hooser and Gina G. Turrigiano},
journal = {Neuron},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1016/j.neuron.2026.06.016},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2026.06.016},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ethological learning during the critical period resets synaptic setpoints in mouse binocular visual cortex
AU - Diane Bissen
AU - Brian A. Cary
AU - Amanda Zhang
AU - Wei Wen
AU - Kurt A. Sailor
AU - Stephen D. Van Hooser
AU - Gina G. Turrigiano
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Neuron
DO - 10.1016/j.neuron.2026.06.016
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2026.06.016
AB - Critical periods are developmental windows of high experience-dependent plasticity essential for the correct refinement of neuronal circuitry and function. While the consequences for the visual system of sensory deprivation during the critical period have been well-characterized, far less is known about the effects of enhanced sensory experience. Here, we use prey capture learning to assess structural and functional plasticity mediating visual learning in the primary visual cortex of critical period mice. We show that prey capture learning improves temporal frequency discrimination and drives a profound remodeling of visual circuitry through an increase in excitatory connectivity and spine turnover. This global and persistent rewiring is not observed in adult hunters and is mediated by TNFα-dependent mechanisms. Our findings demonstrate that enhanced visual experience in a naturalistic paradigm during the critical period can drive structural plasticity to improve visual function, and promotes a long-lasting increase in spine dynamics that could enhance subsequent plasticity.
SN - 0896-6273
SN - 1097-4199
ER -