Summary

Development & Plasticity in Sensory Thalamus & Cortex is based on a 2-day symposium offered for the first time at SFN 2003. The symposium focused on the latest findings and ideas, focusing on visual and somatosensory thalamus and neocortex in rodents and carnivores and functional imaging studies in developing and aging human neocortex, as well as plastic changes after spinal cord injury. This volume will cover recent advances in understanding sensory thalamic and cortical function, organization, and plasticity. Chapters will cover a broad range of approaches from single cell recordings to viral gene transfer to transgenic and knockout mouse models to functional imaging in human cortex. The text is intended to provide an update on the multitude of technical and experimental approaches in understanding the development and plasticity of the mammalian sensory thalamus and neocortex and provide a synthetic theoretical framework for future studies.