Core Faculty

Michael P. Stryker, Ph.D.

William F. Ganong Endowed Chair in Physiology

Research Description

Our laboratory's major interest is the in the mechanisms responsible for the development and plasticity of precise connections within the central nervous system, and particularly in the role of neural activity in this process. Most of the work of the laboratory is on the visual cortex of the mouse.   In normal development, neural connections to and within the visual cortex are refined to high precision through the action of activity-dependent mechanisms of neural plasticity in combination with specific molecular signals.  In our experiments, we induce activity-dependent plasticity experimentally through manipulations of genetics or experience or by pharmacological or neurophysiological intervention in order to discover what cellular mechanisms and what changes in cortical circuitry are responsible for rapid, long lasting changes in neuronal responses. We analyze these changes using microelectrode recordings, novel techniques for measurement of optical and metabolic signals related to neural activity, including 2-photon microscopy and intrinsic signal imaging, and anatomical and neurochemical tracing of connections.

Current experimental work in the laboratory focuses on four areas: (a) Understanding the coupling between the physiological and anatomical changes responsible for neuronal plasticity. (b) Understanding the cellular mechanisms of activity-dependent cortical plasticity, primarily through the use of transgenic mice. (c) Understanding the interaction between neural activity and  molecular cues in the formation of cortical maps. (d) Understanding the difference between the limited plasticity in the adult brain and the much greater plasticity during critical periods in early life.  Two additional topics are currently dormant.  (e) Understanding the mechanism by which sleep promotes cortical plasticity, a phenomenon that we have demonstrated in the primary visual cortex. (f) Understanding the functional organization of visual cortex in animals with highly developed visual systems in relation to models of machine vision.

Selected Publications

Kaneko, M., Hanover, J.L. England, P.M.. and Stryker, M.P. (2008) TrkB kinase required for recovery, but not loss, of cortical responses following monocular deprivation. Nature Neuroscience 11: 497-504
doi:10.1038/nn2068

Cang*, J.C., Niell*, C.M., Liu, X., Pfeiffenberger, C., Feldheim, D.A.
and Stryker, M.P., (2008) Selective Disruption of One Cartesian Axis of Cortical Maps and Receptive Fields by Deficiency in Ephrin-As and Structured Activity. (* co-first authors). Neuron 57: 511-523.

Jin, JZ, Weng, C, Yeh, C-I, Gordon, JA, Ruthazer, ES, Stryker, MP, Swadlow, HA & Alonso, J-M. (2008) On and off domains of geniculate afferents in cat primary visual cortex. Nature Neuroscience 11: 88-94.

Renteria, R. C., Tian, N., Cang, J., Nakanishi, S., Stryker, M. P. and Copenhagen, D. R. (2006) Intrinsic ON responses of the retinal OFF pathway are suppressed by the ON pathway. J Neurosci 26: 11857-69.

Dadvand, L., Stryker, M. P. and Frank, M. G. (2006) Sleep does not enhance the recovery of deprived eye responses in developing visual cortex. Neuroscience 143: 815-26.

Sharpee, T.O., Sugihara, H., Kurgansky, A.V., Rebrik, S.P., Stryker, M.P. and Miller, K.D. (2006) Adaptive neural filtering enhances information transmission in visual cortex. Nature 439: 936-942.

Stryker, M.P. (2006) Rapid Visualization of Cortical Activity Using Intrinsic Signal Optical Imaging. In: Visualizing Large-Scale Patterns of Activity in the Brain: Optical and Electrical Signals. (Buzsáki G,
ed) pp.19-25. Atlanta, GA: Society for Neuroscience

Cang, J.C., Renteria, R.C., Kaneko, M.., Liu, X., Copenhagen, D.R. and Stryker, M.P. (2005) Development of precise maps in visual cortex requires patterned spontaneous activity in the retina. Neuron 48: 797-809

Taha, S. and Stryker, M.P. (2005) Ocular dominance plasticity is stably maintained in the absence of aCaMKII autophosphorylation. Proc. Nat.
Acad. Sci. USA 102: 16438–16442.

Gandhi, S.P, Cang, J. and Stryker, M.P. (2005) An eye-opening experience. Nature Neuroscience 8: 9-10.

Takao K. Hensch, T.K. and Stryker, M.P. (2004) Columnar Architecture Sculpted by GABA Circuits in Developing Cat Visual Cortex. Science 303:
1678-1681 (Supplementary Online Materials)

Kalatsky, V.A., and Stryker, M.P. (2003) New paradigm for optical
imaging: Temporally encoded maps of intrinsic signal. Neuron 38: 529-45

Taha, S., and Stryker, M.P. (2002) Rapid ocular dominance plasticity requires cortical but not geniculate protein synthesis. Neuron 34: 425-36

Frank, M.G., Issa, N.P., and Stryker, M.P. (2001) Sleep enhances plasticity in the developing visual cortex. Neuron 30: 275-87

Trachtenberg, J.T., and Stryker, M.P. (2001) Rapid anatomical plasticity of horizontal connections in the developing visual cortex. J Neurosci
21: 3476-82

Issa, N.P., Trepel, C., and Stryker, M.P. (2000) Spatial frequency maps in cat visual cortex. J Neurosci 20: 8504-14

Trachtenberg, J.T., Trepel, C., and Stryker, M.P. (2000) Rapid extragranular plasticity in the absence of thalamocortical plasticity in the developing primary visual cortex. Science 287: 2029-32

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