Title: Re-opening the Critical Period to Restore the Synaptic Plasticity for Motor Learning in Parkinson's Disease

Speaker: Prof. Jun Ding, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, and Neurology,, Stanford University School of Medicine

Time: 13:00-14:30, November 8, 2019

Location: B101,  Lui Che Woo Building

Abstract:

Dynamic adaptations in synaptic plasticity are critical for learning new motor skills and maintaining memory throughout life, which rapidly decline with Parkinson's disease (PD). Plasticity in the motor cortex is important for acquisition and maintenance of motor skills, but how the loss of dopamine in PD leads to disrupted structural and functional plasticity in the motor cortex is not well understood. Here we used mouse models of PD and two-photon imaging to show that dopamine depletion resulted in structural changes in the motor cortex. Our findings suggest that both D1 and D2 receptor signaling regulate motor cortex plasticity, and loss of dopamine results in atypical synaptic adaptations that may contribute to the impairment of motor performance and motor memory observed in PD. Further, we seek to target important signaling pathways involved in regulating the critical period to restore the impaired synaptic plasticity in the motor cortex. Together, our findings provide insights on how motor cortical synaptic plasticity is bi-directional regulated in health and disease states.

Host: Prof. Xiang Yu