For mice, the induction protocol (100 Hz for 6 s) was employed in

For mice, the induction protocol (100 Hz for 6 s) was employed in the absence of NBQX, and 20–30 min prior to obtaining the whole-cell configuration. For both rats and mice, the stimulating electrodes for the test and control pathways were alternated VE 821 to avoid differences in NMDA EPSC due to proximal or distal synapses. Once cell per slice was used, NMDA EPSC decay was fit with a double exponential function using OriginLab software (Northampton, MA, USA), and decay kinetics are expressed as a weighted decay time constant. All receptor antagonists were bath applied

at least 20 min prior to and during the induction protocol. For kinase inhibitors, slices were preincubated with inhibitors for at least 1 hr prior to the induction protocol. For dark rearing, male and female mice were used. Dark rearing commenced at P6, and mice were raised in complete darkness until P17–P19. For light experience (LE) experiments, dark-reared mice were exposed to 2.5 hr of light. Values are mean ±

standard error of the mean (SEM). Statistical significance was tested using a Student’s t test. For all experiments in which genotype was the experimental variable, the “n” was animal. All drugs, except for picrotoxin (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA), were obtained from Tocris Cookson. This work was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Intramural Program. J.A.M. is supported on a Pharmacology Research Associate fellowship from NIGMS. We are grateful to Chris McBain and members of the McBain and Isaac labs for discussions on this study. We thank Hey Kyoung Lee and Emily Petrus for advice on the Epigenetic inhibitor visual cortex experiments. “
“Face recognition is a critically important cognitive ability

for primates, who often communicate whatever with facial expressions and gaze directions and use these cues to determine appropriate behavioral responses. The importance of face processing for social function is illustrated by the effects of prosopagnosia in humans, which can be debilitating (Damasio et al., 1982). Because of the importance of faces, primates have an extensive network of brain areas devoted to face processing (Haxby et al., 2000). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), lesion studies, and electrophysiological studies in humans and monkeys have discovered numerous face-processing areas. In electrophysiological studies in macaques, neurons responding to facial expressions and gaze direction were found in the superior temporal sulcus (STS) (De Souza et al., 2005, Hasselmo et al., 1989 and Perrett et al., 1985), while identity is believed to be encoded by neurons in the lateral and anterior ventral temporal cortex (De Souza et al., 2005, Eifuku et al., 2004, Hasselmo et al., 1989 and Leopold et al., 2006). Monkey fMRI studies also found multiple face-selective patches, although predominantly in the STS (Bell et al., 2009, Hadj-Bouziane et al., 2008, Logothetis et al., 1999, Pinsk et al.

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