Periodic Reporting for period 3 - NeuroRemod (Mechanisms of neuronal network remodeling in the adult mammalian brain)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-04-01 bis 2022-09-30
We use as a model system the circuit for processing sensory information from whiskers in mice. Plasticity is induced by surgical removal of the whiskers and infra-orbital nerve in adults, and the study of this phenomenon was divided into three research objectives:
1. Characterize the anatomical and connectivity changes induced by the loss of sensory information in adults at the whole brain level
2. Establish molecular mechanisms to control axonal plasticity in adults
3. Explore the role of cerebral vasculature in the control of adult neuronal plasticity
- We also invented a novel mapping tool for the vascular system, which produced one of the first complete map of the brain vascular system at the capillary level. Using this technology, we mapped the changes imposed on the vascular structure of the brain after a sensory loss (Kirst et al. Cell 2020).
- We now clearly defined the timeframe and locations of adult structural plasticity in the somatosensory cortex, enabling us to investigate now the rules and mechanisms of plasticity in this system.
- We will now be able to describe precisely the type of neurons undergoing plastic rearrangement in the cortex, and which axonal branches are susceptible to this reorganization.
- This level of description will facilite the description of molecular pathways involved in branch pruning.