José Fernando Maya‐Vetencourt1,2,3, Alessandro Sale1,2,3, Alessandro Viegi1,2,3, Laura Baroncelli1,2,3, Roberto De Pasquale1,2,3, Olivia F. O’Leary1,2,3, Eero Ċastrén1,2,3, Lamberto Maffei1,2,3
1Institute of Neuroscience, Consiglio Nazionale delle Recerche, Via Moruzzi 1, I-56100 Pisa, Italy.
2Neuroscience Centre, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
3Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri, I-56100 Pisa, Italy.
Tóm tắt
We investigated whether fluoxetine, a widely prescribed medication for treatment of depression, restores neuronal plasticity in the adult visual system of the rat. We found that chronic administration of fluoxetine reinstates ocular dominance plasticity in adulthood and promotes the recovery of visual functions in adult amblyopic animals, as tested electrophysiologically and behaviorally. These effects were accompanied by reduced intracortical inhibition and increased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the visual cortex. Cortical administration of diazepam prevented the effects induced by fluoxetine, indicating that the reduction of intracortical inhibition promotes visual cortical plasticity in the adult. Our results suggest a potential clinical application for fluoxetine in amblyopia as well as new mechanisms for the therapeutic effects of antidepressants and for the pathophysiology of mood disorders.
