Adult C57BL/6J mice (>postnatal day P56) were maintained on a 12-h light/dark (LD) cycle and had access to food and water ad libitum.
Drug administration for plasticity analysis: Valproic acid (VPA; 200mgkg-1, i.p; Sigma-Aldrich) was dissolved in sterile saline. Vehicle or VPA was i.p. injected twice a day. Diazepam (DZ; 2 mg ml−1 in 50 % propylene glycol/PBS, i.c.v; Sigma-Aldrich). Vehicle or DZ was injected daily into both lateral ventricles (1.5 μl per hemisphere and a total of 3 μl) for 2 days.
Monocular deprivation and drug administration: Prior to monocular deprivation (MD) experiments, VPA was injected into wild-type adult mice every 12 h for 2 days. After the 2nd day, eyelid margins were trimmed and sutured under halothane anesthesia for 4 days (brief MD). VPA was administered i.p. every 12 hourly over another 4 days. All recordings were obtained contralateral to the deprived eye and blind to drug treatment.
Drug administration for DHSS and CAGE analysis: Valproic acid (VPA; 200 mg kg−1, i.p; Sigma-Aldrich) was dissolved in sterile saline. Equivalent volume of vehicle solution (Veh) was injected into control animals. Visual cortex was excised 2 h after Veh or VPA treatment for RNA extraction using RNAeasy kit (Qiagen) or for DHSS assay. All animal protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan.
Drug administration for plasticity analysis: Valproic acid (VPA; 200mgkg-1, i.p; Sigma-Aldrich) was dissolved in sterile saline. Vehicle or VPA was i.p. injected twice a day. Diazepam (DZ; 2 mg ml−1 in 50 % propylene glycol/PBS, i.c.v; Sigma-Aldrich). Vehicle or DZ was injected daily into both lateral ventricles (1.5 μl per hemisphere and a total of 3 μl) for 2 days.
Monocular deprivation and drug administration: Prior to monocular deprivation (MD) experiments, VPA was injected into wild-type adult mice every 12 h for 2 days. After the 2nd day, eyelid margins were trimmed and sutured under halothane anesthesia for 4 days (brief MD). VPA was administered i.p. every 12 hourly over another 4 days. All recordings were obtained contralateral to the deprived eye and blind to drug treatment.
Drug administration for DHSS and CAGE analysis: Valproic acid (VPA; 200 mg kg−1, i.p; Sigma-Aldrich) was dissolved in sterile saline. Equivalent volume of vehicle solution (Veh) was injected into control animals. Visual cortex was excised 2 h after Veh or VPA treatment for RNA extraction using RNAeasy kit (Qiagen) or for DHSS assay. All animal protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan.