The Journal of Neurophysiology Vol. 81 No. 1 January 1999, pp. 121-128
Copyright ©1999 The American Physiological Society

Critical Period for the Monocular Deprivation Effect in Rats: Assessment With Sweep Visually Evoked Potentials

Eric S. Guire, Marvin E. Lickey, and Barbara Gordon

Institute of Neuroscience, 1254 University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403

Guire, Eric S., Marvin E. Lickey, and Barbara Gordon. Critical period for the monocular deprivation effect in rats: assessment with sweep visually evoked potentials. J. Neurophysiol. 81: 121-128, 1999. Rats and mice are the species most frequently used for cellular and biochemical studies of plasticity, but only a few studies have examined developmentally regulated visual plasticity in these species. Here we report a study of the critical period for monocular deprivation in Long-Evans rats in which visual pattern sweep evoked potentials (sweep VEP) was used. Successful recording of sweep VEPs depended on establishing a stable light plane of anesthesia. We found a mixture of halothane and NO₂ to be suitable. During a single trial lasting 10 s, anesthetized rats (n = 28) viewed a sinusoidal contrast grating (spatial frequency of 0.13 cycles/deg) that reversed phase at 3 Hz. During the trial, the grating contrast increased logarithmically from 1 to 70%. Extracellular recording pipettes were placed bilaterally in layers II/III of the binocular regions of primary visual cortex. Stimulating the right and left eye on alternate trials, sweep VEP amplitudes were collected for 30 trials from each eye. In monocularly deprived animals, the right eyelid had been sutured for 5 days before recording. Age at suture varied from P19 to P86. In 12 of 13 rats sutured between P19 and P50, the crossed response from the deprived eye was smaller than the crossed response from the nondeprived eye. The same relation prevailed for the uncrossed responses in 11 of 13 animals. There was no significant monocular deprivation effect in animals sutured between P55 and P86 (n = 9). Dark rearing until approximately P90 followed by 5 days of eyelid suture resulted in a strong monocular deprivation effect in both crossed and uncrossed pathways (n = 3). There was little effect of dark rearing alone on the size the sweep VEPs (n = 3). The critical period reported here lasts at least 2 wk longer than reported for rats by Fagliolini et al. and for mice by Gordon and Stryker. Both previous studies used single unit recording rather than the sweep VEP method.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. F. M. Vetencourt, A. Sale, A. Viegi, L. Baroncelli, R. De Pasquale, O. F. O'Leary, E. Castren, and L. Maffei The Antidepressant Fluoxetine Restores Plasticity in the Adult Visual Cortex Science, April 18, 2008; 320(5874): 385 - 388. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Jehle, K. Wingert, C. Dimitriu, W. Meschede, J. Lasseck, M. Bach, and W. A. Lagreze Quantification of Ischemic Damage in the Rat Retina: A Comparative Study Using Evoked Potentials, Electroretinography, and Histology Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., March 1, 2008; 49(3): 1056 - 1064. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Q. S. Fischer, S. Aleem, H. Zhou, and T. A. Pham Adult visual experience promotes recovery of primary visual cortex from long-term monocular deprivation Learn. Mem., August 29, 2007; 14(9): 573 - 580. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Goel and H.-K. Lee Persistence of Experience-Induced Homeostatic Synaptic Plasticity through Adulthood in Superficial Layers of Mouse Visual Cortex J. Neurosci., June 20, 2007; 27(25): 6692 - 6700. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Caleo, L. Restani, L. Gianfranceschi, L. Costantin, C. Rossi, O. Rossetto, C. Montecucco, and L. Maffei Transient Synaptic Silencing of Developing Striate Cortex Has Persistent Effects on Visual Function and Plasticity J. Neurosci., April 25, 2007; 27(17): 4530 - 4540. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Q. S. Fischer, A. Graves, S. Evans, M. E. Lickey, and T. A. Pham Monocular deprivation in adult mice alters visual acuity and single-unit activity Learn. Mem., April 6, 2007; 14(4): 277 - 286. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Iny, A. J. Heynen, E. Sklar, and M. F. Bear Bidirectional modifications of visual acuity induced by monocular deprivation in juvenile and adult rats. J. Neurosci., July 12, 2006; 26(28): 7368 - 7374. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. A. Pham, S. J. Graham, S. Suzuki, A. Barco, E. R. Kandel, B. Gordon, and M. E. Lickey A semi-persistent adult ocular dominance plasticity in visual cortex is stabilized by activated CREB Learn. Mem., November 1, 2004; 11(6): 738 - 747. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Demas, S. J. Eglen, and R. O. L. Wong Developmental Loss of Synchronous Spontaneous Activity in the Mouse Retina Is Independent of Visual Experience J. Neurosci., April 1, 2003; 23(7): 2851 - 2860. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W.-C. A. Lee and E. Nedivi Extended Plasticity of Visual Cortex in Dark-Reared Animals May Result from Prolonged Expression of cpg15-Like Genes J. Neurosci., March 1, 2002; 22(5): 1807 - 1815. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. J. Heynen and M. F. Bear Long-Term Potentiation of Thalamocortical Transmission in the Adult Visual Cortex In Vivo J. Neurosci., December 15, 2001; 21(24): 9801 - 9813. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Rozas, H. Frank, A. J. Heynen, B. Morales, M. F. Bear, and A. Kirkwood Developmental Inhibitory Gate Controls the Relay of Activity to the Superficial Layers of the Visual Cortex J. Neurosci., September 1, 2001; 21(17): 6791 - 6801. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. A. Wilson, M. V. Johnston, G. W. Goldstein, and M. E. Blue Neonatal lead exposure impairs development of rodent barrel field cortex PNAS, May 9, 2000; 97(10): 5540 - 5545. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. M. Quinlan, D. H. Olstein, and M. F. Bear Bidirectional, experience-dependent regulation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit composition in the rat visual cortex during postnatal development PNAS, October 26, 1999; 96(22): 12876 - 12880. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]