Ocular dominance shift in kitten visual cortex caused by imbalance in retinal electrical activity.

摘要: Monocular lid suture during the sensitive period early in life of a kitten disrupts normal development inputs from two eyes to visual cortex, causing decrease fraction cortical cells responding deprived eye1. Such an ocular dominance shift has been assumed depend on patterned experience, because no change physiology is produced by inequalities between retinal illumination2 or temporally modulated diffuse light stimulation3,4. A higher-level process, involving gating signals areas outside striate proposed ensure that sustained changes synaptic efficacy occur only response behaviourally significant inputs5. To test whether such process necessary for plasticity, we treated 4-week-old kittens with deprivation and monocular tetrodotoxin (TTX) injections create imbalance electrical activities retinas absence vision. After 1 week treatment determined distribution single units primary cortex. In all studied, was found. addition this physiological change, there anatomical lateral geniculate nucleus, where were larger laminae receiving input more active eye. Our results indicate vision not spontaneous activity alone can produce shift.