Summer Semester 2008

Cortical Plasticity

HCS 7372 0U1

Meeting time: Thursday 1-5 pm Meeting Place: GR4.301

Instructor: Dr. Michael P. Kilgard
Office: JO 4.304
Office hours: Tuesday 10-11am
Office phone: (972) 883-2339
E-mail address: kilgard@utdallas.edu

Course Description

This course will review the basic principles of neural plasticity with special emphasis on cortical plasticity related to development, recovery from injury and learning.

Lectures will provide students with the appropriate background for each topic, and discussions will explore classic and modern primary papers. Workload will consist of readings, class presentations, class participation, and weekly written critiques.

This first aim of the course is to provide a complete and up-to-date understanding of the concepts involved in a well-studies aspect of brain function: plasticity. The focused nature of this course will be a useful supplement to a general education of brain function based on surveys of many fields. Because similar plasticity principles apply throughout the brain the detailed description of cortical plasticity provided by this course will serve as a conceptual starting point for thinking about other brain regions. An additional aim of this course is to relate the discussed concepts to clinically relevant issues. This course assumes only a general understanding of basic neuroscience principles and will be useful to students interested in neuroscience, communication disorders, cognitive science, developmental psychology, biology, computer science, or neural networks.

Material Discussed

Concepts:

· Developmental plasticity

· Pathological plasticity

· Plasticity induced by peripheral injury

· Plasticity induced by central injury

Techniques/Approaches:

Psychophysics
Neurophysiology
Functional imaging (MEG, fMRI, PET)
Neuroethology
Sensory deprivation
Rehabilitation

Course Requirements

All assigned readings must be completed before each class.

Critiques -- one-fourth of final grade.

Each week you will need to email a concise, thoughtful critique of one of the papers for discussion. Support your conclusions using concrete evidence and quotations, not merely your opinion. The following outline is suggested: (1) Summarize in 1-2 sentences the key take-home message(s) of the paper. (2) Place the paper in context within the literature we have covered in class. What central problems does it address? How does it differ from other work we studied? How does it advance the field? (3) Critique the methods and conclusions. Are there any flaws in technique or logic? Are the experiments or conclusions believable? (4) Discuss the paper in terms of key concepts we have covered in class. (5) Suggest improvements or additional work. What important related questions does the paper leave open? Critique assignments should be about a page long and should be on the primary research papers not the review articles.

Individual class participation – one-half of final grade (this will be highly quantitative).

Raise questions about unfamiliar or interesting terms and concepts.
Actively discuss readings, critiques, and scientific issues, in class.
Discussion of papers and concepts with classmates outside of class is strongly encouraged.

In class presentation – one fourth of final grade.

Objectives
On completion of this course, students should be able to:

Pick up a primary research article related to auditory processing and understand the major new findings.
Place new findings within the historical context of previous experiments.
Critically evaluate the logic of experimental design.
Effectively use library and internet resources to answer their own questions and expand on material presented in the introduction of the paper.
Lead a coherent discussion of primary research articles.

Topics (and papers for discussion):

1. Introduction to Neural Plasticity Generally and Cortical Plasticity in Particular

2. Visual Cortex

a. Plasticity of ocular dominance columns in monkey striate cortex.

b. Modulation of visual cortical plasticity by acetylcholine and noradrenaline - Get It! UTDallas

c. Topographic reorganization in the striate cortex of the adult cat and monkey is cortically mediated - Get It! UTDallas

d. Sleep Enhances Plasticity in the Developing Visual Cortex - Get It! UTDallas

e. Reactivation of Ocular Dominance Plasticity in the Adult Visual Cortex - Get It! UTDallas

f. Learning to see: experience and attention in primary visual cortex - Get It! UTDallas

g. Responses of Macaque Perirhinal Neurons during and after Visual Stimulus Association Learning - Get It! UTDallas

h. Specific GABAA Circuits for Visual Cortical Plasticity - Get It! UTDallas

i. The Antidepressant Fluoxetine Restores Plasticity in the Adult Visual Cortex - Get It! UTDallas

j. A critical window for cooperation and competition among developing retinotectal synapses - Get It! UTDallas

k. Spike-timing-dependent synaptic modification induced by natural spike trains. - Get It! UTDallas

l. Spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity depends on dendritic location. - Get It! UTDallas

m. Neuromodulators Control the Polarity of Spike-Timing-Dependent Synaptic Plasticity - Get It! UTDallas

3. Auditory Cortex

a. Classical conditioning induces CS-specific receptive field plasticity in the auditory cortex of the guinea pig

b. Dependence of cortical plasticity on correlated activity of single neurons and on behavioral context - Get It! UTDallas

c. Plasticity in the frequency representation of primary auditory cortex following discrimination training in adult owl monkeys - Get It! UTDallas

d. Plasticity of temporal information processing in the primary auditory cortex - Get It! UTDallas

e. Induction of visual orientation modules in auditory cortex - Get It! UTDallas

4. Somatosensory Cortex

a. Long-term in vivo imaging of experience-dependent synaptic plasticity in adult cortex - Get It! UTDallas

b. Somatosensory cortical map changes following digit amputation in adult monkeys - Get It! UTDallas

c. A critical period for experience-dependent synaptic plasticity in rat barrel cortex - Get It! UTDallas

d. Sensory experience modifies the short-term dynamics of neocortical synapses. - Get It! UTDallas

5. Motor Cortex

a. Reorganization of movement representations in primary motor cortex following focal ischemic infarcts in adult squirrel monkeys

b. Cortical ensemble activity increasingly predicts behaviour outcomes during learning of a motor task. - Get It! UTDallas

c. Functional Reorganization of the Rat Motor Cortex Following Motor Skill Learning - Get It! UTDallas

d. The Basal Forebrain Cholinergic System Is Essential for Cortical Plasticity and Functional Recovery … - Get It! UTDallas

e. Modulation of muscle responses evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation during the acquisition of new fine motor skill

6. Hippocampus

a. Temporally Structured Replay of Awake Hippocampal Ensemble Activity during Rapid Eye Movement Sleep - Get It! UTDallas

7. Mechanisms

a. Spike-timing-dependent synaptic modification induced by natural spike trains

b. Neuromodulators Control the Polarity of Spike-Timing-Dependent Synaptic Plasticity - Get It! UTDallas

8. Student presentations and course synthesis

Any schedule changes will be posted at: www.utdallas.edu/~kilgard/PlasticitySU08.htm

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The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline within the procedures of recognized and established due process. Procedures are defined and described in the Rules and Regulations, Board of Regents, The University of Texas System, Part 1, Chapter VI, Section 3, and in Title V, Rules on Student Services and Activities of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures. Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the Dean of Students, where staff members are available to assist students in interpreting the rules and regulations (SU 1.602, 972/883-6391).

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Religious Holy Days The University of Texas at Dallas will excuse a student from class or other required activities for the travel to and observance of a religious holy day for a religion whose places of worship are exempt from property tax under Section 11.20, Tax Code, Texas Code Annotated.

The student is encouraged to notify the instructor or activity sponsor as soon as possible regarding the absence, preferably in advance of the assignment. The student, so excused, will be allowed to take the exam or complete the assignment within a reasonable time after the absence: a period equal to the length of the absence, up to a maximum of one week. A student who notifies the instructor and completes any missed exam or assignment may not be penalized for the absence. A student who fails to complete the exam or assignment within the prescribed period may receive a failing grade for that exam or assignment.

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These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.

Reading list

Read for 6/5:

Plasticity of ocular dominance columns in monkey striate cortex.

Read for 6/12:

Topographic reorganization of somatosensory cortical areas 3b and 1 in adult monkeys following restricted deafferentation - Get It! UTDallas

Somatosensory cortical map changes following digit amputation in adult monkeys - Get It! UTDallas - group of 3 »

Modulation of visual cortical plasticity by acetylcholine and noradrenaline - Get It! UTDallas - group of 3 »

Read for 6/19:

Blockade of "NMDA" receptors disrupts experience-dependent plasticity of kitten striate cortex - Get It! UTDallas - group of 4 »
A Kleinschmidt, MF Bear, W Singer - Science, 1987 - sciencemag.org
Cortical activity blockade prevents ocular dominance plasticity in the kitten visual cortex - group of 3 »