# Inhibitory synaptic plasticity during learning

> **NIH NIH R56** · CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $526,949

## Abstract

Abstract
What are the neural circuits by which the brain differentiates between incidental and meaningful
environmental inputs to enable long-lasting changes in sensation and behavior? Experimental
evidence indicates that this distinction may be made at the earliest stages of cortical processing,
in primary sensory cortex. Here we will use high-throughput, automated behavioral training in
freely-moving mice to determine how the detailed neural circuitry of the cerebral cortex is
distinctly changed during acquisition of a tactile reward-based association. Our preliminary data
indicate that long-lasting modifications in parvalbumin (PV)-mediated synaptic inhibition is
selectively driven by sensory association training but not passive sensory exposure, providing a
foothold to investigate the cellular circuitry that distinguishes between different types of
experience-dependent plasticity. Using in vivo Ca imaging, targeted electrophysiological
recordings and anatomical analyses, we will determine the mechanisms by which specific
neural subtypes facilitate learning-related reorganization of the cortical column.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10270121
- **Project number:** 1R56NS119599-01
- **Recipient organization:** CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** ALISON L BARTH
- **Activity code:** R56 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $526,949
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10270121

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10270121, Inhibitory synaptic plasticity during learning (1R56NS119599-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10270121. Licensed CC0.

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