How past experiences reshape behavior is not well understood. In this issue, two studies (Schild et al., 2014; Yu et al., 2014) dissected the molecular mechanisms underlying experience-dependent plasticity in thermosensory behavior. They show that Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent kinase I (CaMKI) regulates thermal preferences according to past experience.

Genetic programs controlling ontogeny drive many of the essential connectivity patterns within the brain. Yet it is activity, derived from the experience of interacting with the world, that sculpts the precise circuitry of the central nervous system. Such experience-dependent plasticity has been observed throughout the brain but has been most extensively studied in the neocortex. A prime exampl...

Proper wiring of neural circuits during development depends on both molecular cues that guide connectivity and activity-dependent mechanisms that use patterned activation to adjust the strength and number of synaptic connections. In this chapter, we discuss some of the plasticity mechanisms underlying the experience-dependent rewiring of visual cortical microcircuits focusing on layer 4 of rat ...

Experience-dependent plasticity of cell and tissue function is critical for survival by allowing organisms to dynamically adjust physiological processes in response to changing or harsh environmental conditions. Despite the conferred evolutionary advantage, it remains unknown whether emergent experience-dependent properties are present in cell populations organized as networks within endocrine ...

Sleep consolidates experience-dependent brain plasticity, but the precise cellular mechanisms mediating this process are unknown [1]. De novo cortical protein synthesis is one possible mechanism. In support of this hypothesis, sleep is associated with increased brain protein synthesis [2, 3] and transcription of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) involved in protein synthesis regulation [4, 5]. Protein syn...

The primary visual cortex (V1) is widely used to study brain plasticity, which is not only crucial for normal brain function, such as learning and memory, but also for recovery after brain injuries such as stroke. In standard cage (SC) raised mice, experience-dependent ocular dominance (OD) plasticity in V1 declines with age and is compromised by a lesion in adjacent and distant cortical region...

The role of sensory experience in the development and plasticity of the visual system has been widely studied. It has generally been reported that once animals reach adulthood, experience-dependent visual plasticity is reduced. We have found that visual experience is not needed for the refinement of receptive fields (RFs) in the superior colliculus (SC) but instead is necessary to maintain them...

Synaptic plasticity directs development of the nervous system and is thought to underlie memory storage in adult animals. A great deal of our current understanding of the role of AMPA receptors in synaptic plasticity comes from studies on developing cortex and cell cultures. In the present study, we instead focus on plasticity in mature neurons in the neocortex of adult animals. We find that th...

Experience-dependent plasticity induces lasting changes in the structure of synapses, dendrites, and axons at both molecular and anatomical levels. Whilst relatively well studied in the cortex, little is known about the molecular changes underlying experience-dependent plasticity at peripheral levels of the sensory pathways. Given the importance of glutamatergic neurotransmission in the somatos...