Synapses lost and found: developmental critical periods and Alzheimer’s disease

Professor Carla Shatz, discusses research results that show that Major Histocompatability Class I and PirB genes, thought previously to function only in immunity, act at neuronal synapses to limit how much - or how quickly - synapse strength changes in response to new experience. Changes in their function could contribute to developmental disorders such as Schizophrenia, and even to the synapse loss in Alzheimer’s Disease.

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