Page 17 - Abacoa Community News - March '25

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Science On The Cutting Edge from page 16 and Goethe University Frankfurt have discovered how early
visual experience dramatically changes the brain networks
that process vision – changes that are essential for establishing
reliable visual perception.
The Interaction Of Nature And Nurture In Brain
Development
Brain circuits emerge from a developmental sequence that
includes two distinct phases often referred to as “Nature and
Learning To See: How Early Nurture.” The period before birth is when genetic mechanisms
and spontaneous patterns of neural activity drive the initial
Visual Experience Builds formation of brain networks (Nature). The subsequent period,
following birth, is when patterns of neural activity driven by
Reliable Brain Circuits experiences further shape neural circuits (Nurture). Despite the
clear boundary that defines these two developmental phases,
Because it does it so well, we often take for granted exactly how events at each stage contribute to the function of
how our brain creates reliable visual representations of our mature neural circuits remains poorly understood.
surroundings that are critical for guiding our behavior. While In a study reported in the journal Nature Neuroscience,
scientists understand a lot about how mature neural circuits neuroscientists led by Dr. David Fitzpatrick and Dr. Matthias
support reliable vision, the sequence of developmental events Kaschube gained fundamental insights into how these
before and after birth that build these circuits is not clear. different developmental phases contribute to the response
Collaborating scientists at Max Planck Florida Institute for properties of the mature functional networks responsible
Neuroscience, the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, for visual perception.

As Jupiter begins to vote on Town leadership, “Immediately following birth, there is a dramatic change
I’M PROUD TO STAND ON MY RECORD in the brain’s circuitry as the number of connections between
neurons increases. This makes it critical to understand the
of thoughtful, lawful decision making on Jupiter’s functional state of the networks prior to experience and how
priorities! The countless conversations I’ve had with the novel patterns of neural activity driven by experience after
residents and small businesses have guided the votes birth shape the maturation of brain circuits. This knowledge is
crucial for addressing a host of neurodevelopmental disorders
I have cast in the past three years, and I’ll continue to and has the potential to guide interventions to maximally
have those conversations - easy and hard - to ensure promote healthy brain development,” described Dr. Fitzpatrick.
I faithfully execute my oath of service to you, the Visual Circuit Development
To understand how nature and nurture contribute to the
residents of the Town of Jupiter!
maturation of circuits underlying vision, the team of scientists
... NOW, LET’S TALK ABOUT JUPITER’S BRIGHT FUTURE! looked at the activity of the neurons in the visual cortex of
the ferret at three different stages of development- before any
visual experience, during very early visual experience, and
when vision was fully mature.
Scientists characterized the patterns of spontaneous
activity in networks prior to the onset of visual experience
and compared these activity patterns to the very first neural
responses driven by sight. This first visual experience –
simple and highly controlled patterns of moving bars of light
– produced activity in the visual circuits that were unlike the
patterns found in the spontaneous activity before eye-opening.
Moreover, although the circuit’s responses to the bars of light
were highly robust, the response patterns were not reliable.
Each time the same visual image was shown, different activity
for Jupiter Town Council patterns were produced, and even the activity of individual
neurons was not consistent or stable across trials.
This instability was very different from the stable
activity the researchers measured in response to the same
visual scene in the mature visual processing circuit.
Even after just a few days of visual experience, the same
scene shown multiple times activates the same neurons
in precisely the same pattern, allowing for robust visual
encoding. Additionally, after visual experience, the
SAFETY spontaneous patterns of activity exhibited by the circuit
by the
Maintain exceptional, Jupiter-focused police and fire align with the patterns of activity driven by various visual
rescue services that keep our community safe scenes. Critically, without early visual experience, the
stability of the activity patterns and their alignment with
spontaneous activity patterns did not emerge.
With further quantitative analysis of the activity patterns,
TRAFFIC the scientists were able to show that the stable patterns that
We’ve secured state funding to help fix emerged following experience were different from both the
Indiantown Road, now let’s follow through early evoked patterns and the early spontaneous patterns.
This indicated that early visual experience had driven
SMALL TOWN FEEL developmental changes in the organization of neural circuits
Development should be compatible with the that produced novel patterns of stable activity. Although the
character and scale of the Town we have nature of the specific network changes responsible for the
emergence of reliable responses remains to be determined,
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY a computational model that was developed and compared
Keep taxes low, spending responsible, and services with the biological data has made specific predictions that
top-notch for residents and small businesses are currently being tested.
Dr. Fitzpatrick explains, “This study has revealed the
ENVIRONMENT powerful role that visual experience plays in transforming
Our inlet, beaches, and natural areas make the early properties of neural circuits into a mature circuit
Jupiter unique, and must be protected with novel patterns of activity that reliably encode visual
information. Understanding the role of experience in this
process advances our goal of uncovering fundamental
ELECTION DAY IS MARCH 11th mechanisms of brain circuit development that we believe
are critical for understanding and mitigating developmental
www.MaliseforJupiter.com disorders.”
Citation: Sigrid Trägenap, David E. Whitney,
David Fitzpatrick and Matthias Kaschube (2024).
Malise@MaliseForJupiter.com
“The developmental emergence of reliable cortical
(561) 316-4688 representations.” Nature Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1038/
s41593-024-01857-3.
Facebook.com/MaliseForJupiter To read more about Dr. Fitzpatrick’s work to understand
YouTube.com/MaliseForJupiter the development of brain circuitry, visit https://www.mpfi.
org/science/our-labs/fitzpatrick-lab/.

Science On The Cutting Edge on page 18