| Budget Amount *help |
¥77,870,000 (Direct Cost: ¥59,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥17,970,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥14,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥11,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,360,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥16,250,000 (Direct Cost: ¥12,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,750,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥15,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥12,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,690,000)
Fiscal Year 2011: ¥15,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥12,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,660,000)
Fiscal Year 2010: ¥15,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥11,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,510,000)
|
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
I determined when during the critical period of postnatal life monocular visual deprivation induces rearrangement of thalamocortical axons and whether endocannabinoid system contributes to the ocular dominance plasticity in the visual system. The rearrangement of thalamocortical axons was observed at the late phase of the critical period but not at the peak of it. Also, I found that a pharmacological inhibition of diacylglycerol-α;, which is a synthetic enzyme of an endocannabinoid 2-AG, or knockout of the enzyme disturbs ocular dominance plasticity, suggesting a pivotal role of endocannabinoid system in the ocular dominance plasticity. Furthermore, I developed a novel gene transfer technique to a few neurons in the identified brain region of postnatal animals, which enables to explore mechanisms of neural circuit plasticity in various animal species.
|
