Description: Over the past few decades, the classic view of the adult brain as hard-wired and unchanging has been dramatically overturned. We'll discuss the ground-breaking basic research behind this change via student-led class presentations. Reading will focus on key original research and review papers from the human and animal literatures. The course will emphasize applications of the basic research to improving human conditions.
At our weekly meetings, students give presentations on the topics listed below. Groups meet with the instructor prior to presentation for guidance. Grading is based on presentation quality, participation in class discussion, and essay assignments for the midterm and final.
Downloads of all papers available at the Class wiki (accessible only from Caltech IPs)
Introductory Lecture. Students choose groups and topics for class presentations.
Introductory Lecture by instructor on topographic brain maps, critical periods (classic Hubel & Wiesel experiments), and dennervation experiments (Merzenich 1983,84) which demonstrated that somatosensory brain maps remained dynamic in the mature brain. Student presentations on the following papers showing plasticity in visual, somatosensory, and auditory cortex maps with plasticity induced by loss of input and by experience-based training.
Gilbert & Wiesel. "Receptive field dynamics in adult primary visual cortex" Nature. 1992
Wang et al. "Remodelling of hand representation in adult cortex determined by timing of tactile stimulation" Nature 1995.
Recanzone, Schreiner, & Merzernich. "Plasticity in the Frequency Representation of Primary Auditory Cortex following Discrimination Training in Adult Owl Monkeys" Journal of Neuroscience 1993.
Elbert et al. "Increased Cortical Representation of the fingers of the Left Hand in String Players" Science 1995.
Merzenich et al. "Temporal Processing Deficits of Language-learning Impaired Children Ameliorated by Training" Science 1996.
Kim et al. "Distinct cortical areas associated with native and second languages" Nature 1997.
Smirnakis et al."Lack of long-term cortical reorganization after macaque retinal lesions" Nature 2005.
associated commentary on Smirnakis et al:
Calfor et al. "Rewiring the adult brain" Nature 2005. (debate over findings)
Sereno MI "Plasicity and its Limits" Nature 2005. (News & Views)
Pascual-Leone et al. "The Plastic Human Brain Cortex." Annual Reviews Neuroscience 1995.
Sadato et al. "Activation of the primary visual cortex by Braille reading in blind subjects." Nature 1996.
Cohen et al. Functional relevance of cross-modal plasticity in blind humans Nature 1997.
Taub et al. "New Treatments in Neurorehabilitation founded on Basic Research". Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2002.
Ramachandran et al. "Perceptual Correlates of Massive Cortical Reorganization" Nature 2002
Flor et al. "Phantom Limb Pain: a case of maladaptive CNS plasticity" Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2006
Chan et al. "Mirror Therapy for phantom limb pain" New England Journal of Medicine 2007.
Sharma, Angelucci, & Sur. "Induction of visual orientation modules in auditory cortex" Nature 2000
Von Melchner, Pallas, & Sur. "Visual behavior mediated by retinal projections to the auditory pathway" Nature 2000.
Newton, Page, & Sur. "Developmental Studies on Rewiring the Brain: What they tell us about brain evolution."
Musallam et al. "Cognitive Control Signals for Neural Prosthetics" Science 2004.
Carmena et al. "Learning to Control a Brain-Machine interface for reaching and grasping by Primates" PlOS Biology 2005.
Lledo et al. "Adult Neurogenesis and functional plasticity in neuronal circuits". Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2006.
Kempermann et al. "More hippocampal neurons in adult mice living in an enhriched environment" Nature 1997.
VanPraag et al. "Functional Neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus" Nature 2002.
Burke and Barnes. "Neural plasticity in the aging brain". Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 2006.
Mahncke et al. "Memory enhancement in healhty older adults using a brain plasticity-based training program: A randomized, controlled study." PNAS 2006.
Recommended Books:
Doidge, Norman. The Brain that Changes Itself. Penguin, 2007.
Ramachandran, V.S and Blakeslee S. Phantoms in the Brain. Harper Perennial, 1999.