Food restriction enhances visual cortex plasticity in adulthood

Maria Spolidoro (), Laura Baroncelli, Elena Putignano, José Fernando Maya-Vetencourt, Alessandro Viegi and Lamberto Maffei
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Maria Spolidoro: Institute of Neuroscience, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Moruzzi 1, I-56100 Pisa, Italy.
Laura Baroncelli: Institute of Neuroscience, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Moruzzi 1, I-56100 Pisa, Italy.
Elena Putignano: Scuola Normale Superiore, Laboratory of Neurobiology, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56100 Pisa, Italy.
José Fernando Maya-Vetencourt: Scuola Normale Superiore, Laboratory of Neurobiology, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56100 Pisa, Italy.
Alessandro Viegi: Scuola Normale Superiore, Laboratory of Neurobiology, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56100 Pisa, Italy.
Lamberto Maffei: Institute of Neuroscience, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Moruzzi 1, I-56100 Pisa, Italy.

Nature Communications, 2011, vol. 2, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Neural circuits display a heightened sensitivity to external stimuli during well-established windows in early postnatal life. After the end of these critical periods, brain plasticity dramatically wanes. The visual system is one of the paradigmatic models for studying experience-dependent plasticity. Here we show that food restriction can be used as a strategy to restore plasticity in the adult visual cortex of rats. A short period of food restriction in adulthood is able both to reinstate ocular dominance plasticity and promote recovery from amblyopia. These effects are accompanied by a reduction of intracortical inhibition without modulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression or extracellular matrix structure. Our results suggest that food restriction could be investigated as a potential way of modulating plasticity.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1323

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