|
|
||||||||
Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
Submitted 31 August 2005; accepted in final form 7 December 2005
The effects of early monocular deprivation on visual acuity and visual cortical responses can be reversed quickly if vision is restored to the deprived eye and the other eye is deprived instead, a procedure known as reverse occlusion. However, recovery of vision through the originally deprived eye (ODE) is not stable. Following re-opening of the recently deprived (originally nondeprived) eye (ONDE), vision in the ODE typically deteriorates rapidly, possibly because of competitive interactions, whereas vision in the ONDE also remains compromised, resulting in bilateral amblyopia, the reasons for which are unknown. Here we monitor the physiological changes in the visual cortex during recovery from reverse occlusion in a longitudinal study, using optical imaging of intrinsic signals and single-cell recording in anesthetized cats. We show that a brief period of just 4 days of concordant binocular vision intercalated between the two periods of monocular experience allows close to equal responses to develop through both eyes, both in terms of cortical territory and orientation selectivity. In contrast, with no binocular vision or discordant binocular experience, cortical territory dominated by the ONDE is significantly reduced, and orientation tuning of cells dominated by the ODE is wider than that of cells dominated by the ONDE. These results support the notion that a brief period of binocular vision is sufficient to prevent bilateral acuity loss caused by reverse occlusion.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
M. Dahlhaus, J. M. Hermans, L. H. Van Woerden, M. H. Saiepour, K. Nakazawa, H. D. Mansvelder, J. A. Heimel, and C. N. Levelt Notch1 Signaling in Pyramidal Neurons Regulates Synaptic Connectivity and Experience-Dependent Modifications of Acuity in the Visual Cortex J. Neurosci., October 22, 2008; 28(43): 10794 - 10802. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. J. Wallace and B. Sakmann Plasticity of Representational Maps in Somatosensory Cortex Observed by In Vivo Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging Cereb Cortex, June 1, 2008; 18(6): 1361 - 1373. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |