Binns KE; Turner JP; Salt TE; (1999) Visual experience alters the molecular profile of NMDA-receptor-mediated sensory transmission. European Journal of Neuroscience, 11: 1101 -1104
N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (NMDArs) may facilitate experience-dependent changes in the visual
system. Early sensory experience has an influence over the production of the molecular components from
which NMDArs are assembled, and thereby alters the properties of functional receptors. Using the antagonists
d-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (AP5) and 3-(2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonate (CPP), which have
some selectivity for different variants of the NMDAr, we demonstrate that visual deprivation (by dark rearing) has
functional consequences for NMDArs in the superior colliculus. An increase in the sensitivity of visual
responses to AP5 in dark-reared rats indicated that NMDArs were more important for visual transmission in
these individuals. We also observed a relative change in the efficacy of the antagonists against the visual
responses of normal versus dark-reared rats. AP5 reduced the visual responses of both groups, but CPP was
ineffective against visual responses after dark rearing. In the same neurons, CPP blocked NMDA induced
activity indicating that molecular adaptations of NMDArs are specific to those synapses mediating visual
activity.
Full text is available at European Journal of Neuroscience.