Resea R ch highlights CORt ICAL PLAS t ICI ty The highly plastic nature of cortical — the lesion projection zone (LPZ) functional recovery was seen in these function — typified by the functional — immediately after the lesioning, fol- animals, and spine turnover was reorganization that follows the loss lowed by a gradual increase in respon- much lower than in focally lesioned of sensory input to a particular siveness in this area to stimulation in mice, indicating that reduced retinal region — is well known; however, the adjacent parts of the visual field. activity alone does not cause the extent to which structural changes To monitor the structural changes structural changes that were observed at the level of the individual neuron that accompanied this recovery, after the focal lesioning. Further contribute to such plasticity was the authors carried out long-term confirmation of the importance of unclear. Hübener and colleagues now two-photon imaging of the cortex the new spines for the functional show that dramatic dendritic spine through windows cut into the skulls reorganization came from the obser- turnover accompanies functional of mice expressing a fluorescent vation that new spines in the LPZ of reorganization in the visual cortex protein in their neurons. By focusing focally lesioned animals were more after a retinal lesion. on the apical dendritic tufts of layer-5 likely to be stabilized and retained, The authors mapped the respon- pyramidal neurons, the authors at least for the 2-month period siveness of neurons in the visual cor- revealed...