Keywords
Clinical Conditions
Equipment & Techniques
Science Culture
Critical periods of nervous system development - attaining stable function in the face of unpredictable biological and environmental availability How can stable function emerge from developing brains in the face of unpredictable variability? Variability is inherent in all biological systems and accentuated by environmental changes, e.g. seasonal temperature differences. Key to this process is a developmental tuning phase, termed a "critical period". Disturbances during a critical period causes lasting suboptimal adjustment; of neuronal properties and network excitation:inhibition balance. In humans, many neuro-developmental conditions, including epilepsy, are thought to be the result of suboptimal critical period experiences (e.g. during adolescence). Working with simplified system, the locomotor network of Drosophila, we have identified the primary signals that underlie critical period plasticity. These are metabolic signals, which regulate the metabolic state of cells, which we think defines their properties. We are now investigating the working hypothesis that critical period plasticity is fundamentally underpinned by metabolic processes.
