The emergence of visual responses in the developing retinotectal system in vivo

Thesis

Patterned neuronal activity driven by the sensory environment plays a key role in the development of precise synaptic connectivity in the brain. It is well established that the action potentials (‘spikes’) generated by individual neurons are crucial to this developmental process. A neuron’s spiking activity is jointly determined by its synaptic inputs and its intrinsic excitability. It is therefore important to ask how a neuron develops these attributes, and whether the emergence of spikin...

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Authors: Van Rheede, J

• Publication date: 2013
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: Oxford University, UK
• Language: English
• Keywords: Eye; Development; NMDA; Neuron; Excitability; Electrophysiology; Activity-dependent; GABA; Spike; Lens; Neuroscience; Receptive fields; Optic tectum; Vision; Depolarising GABA; Visual system; Plasticity; Glutamate; Xenopus
• Subjects: Neuroscience; Experimental psychology; Physiology