Sensory experience regulates cortical inhibition... : Nature (original) (raw)

Sensory experience regulates cortical inhibition by inducing IGF1 in VIP neurons

• A. R. Mardinly
• I. Spiegel
• A. Patrizi
• E. Centofante
• J. E. Bazinet
• C. P. Tzeng
• C. Mandel-Brehm
• D. A. Harmin
• H. Adesnik
• M. Fagiolini
• M. E. Greenberg

Nature

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March 17, 2016

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| DOI: 10.1038/nature17187

Inhibitory neurons regulate the adaptation of neural circuits to sensory experience , but the molecular mechanisms by which experience controls the connectivity between different types of inhibitory neuron to regulate cortical plasticity are largely unknown. Here we show that exposure of dark-housed mice to light induces a gene program in cortical vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-expressing neurons that is markedly distinct from that induced in excitatory neurons and other subtypes of inhibitory neuron. We identify Igf1 as one of several activity-regulated genes that are specific to VIP neurons, and demonstrate that IGF1 functions cell-autonomously in VIP neurons to increase inhibitory synaptic input onto these neurons. Our findings further suggest that in cortical VIP neurons, experience-dependent gene transcription regulates visual acuity by activating the expression of IGF1, thus promoting the inhibition of disinhibitory neurons and affecting inhibition onto cortical pyramidal neurons.