We study experience-dependent and activity dependent plasticity in the rodent barrel cortex in vivo and in neocortical and hippocampal brain slices. You can see somata and basal dendrites approximately 300 microns below the pial surface. Experience-dependent plasticity of dendritic spines in the developing rat barrel cortex in vivo. Here you see a side view of infected neocortical pyramidal neurons. Using two photon excitation it is possible to visualize cells up to 500 microns below the pial surface.
Spines undergo morphological changes in vivo .
Small image stacks were taken at 1 min intervals, to visualize morphological changes. Intracellular analysis of receptive field dynamics in vivo Receptive fields in the barrel cortex are shaped by experience. To investigate the synaptic and circuit basis of this reshaping we use intracellular recordings in vivo . This technique allows us to measure experience - dependent changes with high sensitivity. Sample maps are shown below.