Sensory learning and anatomical plasticity in barrel cortex

Structural plasticity through de novo growth and retraction of dendritic spines is a proposed mechanism for the remodeling of synaptic structures and functional rewiring of neural circuitry. We investigated the role of ngr1, a candidate gene proposed to restrict anatomical plasticity, in tactile learning and basal cortical spine dynamics. Furthermore, we examined the structural changes that occur during acquisition of a whisker-based learning paradigm. Here we have demonstrated that ngr1 does not limit sensory learning or baseline cortical spine dynamics and that tactile learning results in enhanced new spine stabilization in barrel cortex. These findings provide insight on the behavioral and anatomical role of ngr1 in barrel cortex, as well as advance our understanding of how tactile learning influences anatomical plasticity in sensory cortex.