GABAergic circuits control stimulus-instructed receptive field development in the optic tectum

Receptive fields in the developing frog optic tectum are refined under the influence of visual inputs. Richards and colleagues find that these changes require intra-tectal GABAergic transmission. Blockade of GABA signaling increased correlated activity in the tectum. The authors argue that GABA signaling acts to set a low 'background noise' of correlated activity that allows relevant spike timing–dependent plasticity to reshape intra-tectal synapses and thereby reshape receptive fields.