Experience-dependent binocular competition in the visual cortex begins at eye opening

2007 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 370-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spencer L Smith ◽  
Joshua T Trachtenberg
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Eye Opening ◽  
Binocular Competition

Experience-dependent changes in NMDAR1 expression in the visual cortex of an animal model for amblyopia

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 653-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHRYN M. MURPHY ◽  
KEVIN R. DUFFY ◽  
DAVID G. JONES
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Visual Deprivation ◽  
Monocular Deprivation ◽  
Homeostatic Plasticity ◽  
Cortical Circuits ◽  
Central Visual Field ◽  
Binocular Competition ◽  
Binocular Deprivation ◽  
Cortical Representations

When normal binocular visual experience is disrupted during postnatal development, it affects the maturation of cortical circuits and often results in the development of poor visual acuity known as amblyopia. Two main factors contribute to the development of amblyopia: visual deprivation and reduced binocular competition. We investigated the affect of these two amblyogenic factors on the expression of the NMDAR1 subunit in the visual cortex because activation of the NMDA receptor is a key mechanism of developmental neural plasticity. We found that disruption of binocular correlations by monocular deprivation promoted a topographic loss of NMDAR1 expression within the cortical representations of the central visual field and the vertical and horizontal meridians. In contrast, binocular deprivation, which primarily affects visual deprivation, promoted an increase in NMDAR1 expression throughout the visual cortex. These different changes in NMDAR1 expression can be described as topographic and homeostatic plasticity of NMDA expression, respectively. In addition, the changes in NMDA expression in the visual cortex provide a greater understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie the development of amblyopia and the potential for visual recovery.

scholarly journals Visual Cortex Gains Independence from Peripheral Drive before Eye Opening

Neuron ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-723.e3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Gribizis ◽  
Xinxin Ge ◽  
Tanya L. Daigle ◽  
James B. Ackman ◽  
Hongkui Zeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Eye Opening

scholarly journals Experience-Dependent Plasticity from Eye Opening Enables Lasting, Visual Cortex-Dependent Enhancement of Motion Vision

2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (39) ◽  
pp. 9817-9827 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. T. Prusky ◽  
B. D. Silver ◽  
W. W. Tschetter ◽  
N. M. Alam ◽  
R. M. Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Motion Vision ◽  
Dependent Plasticity ◽  
Eye Opening

scholarly journals Sparsification of neuronal activity in the visual cortex at eye-opening

2009 ◽  
Vol 106 (35) ◽  
pp. 15049-15054 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. L. Rochefort ◽  
O. Garaschuk ◽  
R.-I. Milos ◽  
M. Narushima ◽  
N. Marandi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Eye Opening

Binocular competition affects the pattern and intensity of ocular activation columns in the visual cortex of cats

1989 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Tumosa ◽  
S. B. Tieman ◽  
D. G. Tieman
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Monocular Deprivation ◽  
Area 17 ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Areas 17 And 18 ◽  
Binocular Competition ◽  
Video Densitometry ◽  
Average Size

AbstractThe effect of binocular competition on the development of ocular activation columns in areas 17 and 18 of cats was studied using the 14C-2-deoxyglucose (14C-2DG) technique to visualize the regions of cortex activated by one eye in cats reared with equal alternating monocular exposure (equal AME), unequal AME, or monocular deprivation (MD). The average size of the ocular activation columns of the eye stimulated during administration of 2DG was positively correlated with the competitive advantage during rearing. In order of increasing percentage of visual cortex activated, the eyes were (1) deprived eye of MD cats, (2) less experienced eye of unequal AME cats, (3) either eye of equal AME cats, (4) more experienced eye of unequal AME cats, and (5) experienced eye of MD cats. In area 17, the shape of the activation columns also was affected by the relative experience of the eye. The columns of the deprived eye of MD cats were widest in layer IV, where they were about the same width as those of the less experienced eye of the unequal AME cats; in other layers they were narrower, sometimes disappearing altogether. In contrast, the activation columns of the less experienced eye of the unequal AME cats were about the same width in all layers. These results suggest that when one eye is placed at a severe disadvantage and receives no patterned input, as in MD, both geniculocortical connections and intracortical connections may be disrupted, but when the disadvantage is less, as in unequal AME, only the geniculocortical connections are disrupted.Binocular competition also affected the intensity of activation within columns in area 17. We used video densitometry to determine ratios of the amount of label in cortical and thalamic structures. Both the ratio of label in area 17 to that in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and the ratio of label in the binocular segment of area 17 to that in the monocular segment were significantly less for the deprived eye of MD cats than for any other group. These results suggest that even within the smaller activation columns, deprived geniculocortical afferents are relatively ineffective at driving cortical cells. This finding is consistent with earlier reports that the synapses from the deprived pathway are both morphologically abnormal and reduced in number. The cortical labeling for the less experienced eye of the unequal AME cats and the experienced eye of the MD cats were also significantly less than that in equal AME cats. The decreased labeling for the experienced eye activation columns suggests that, in order to cover an abnormally large area, afferents representing the experienced eye must make fewer synaptic contacts within that area and that there are intrinsic limits on the number of synapses that one axon can make.

scholarly journals Experience-dependent development and maintenance of binocular neurons in the mouse visual cortex

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle R. Jenks ◽  
Jason D. Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Binocular Vision ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Normal Development ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Visual Response ◽  
Response Properties ◽  
Dependent Plasticity ◽  
Eye Opening

ABSTRACTThe normal development of neuronal circuits requires both hard-wired gene expression and experience. Sensory processing, such as vision, is especially sensitive to perturbations in experience. However, the exact contribution of experience to neuronal visual response properties and binocular vision remains unknown. To determine how visual response properties developin vivo, we used single cell resolution two-photon calcium imaging of mouse binocular visual cortex at multiple time-points after eye opening. Few neurons are binocularly responsive immediately after eye opening and respond solely to either the contralateral or ipsilateral eye. Binocular neurons emerge during development, which requires visual experience, and show specific tuning of visual response properties. As binocular neurons emerge, activity between the two eyes becomes more correlated in the neuropil. Since experience-dependent plasticity requires the expression of activity-dependent genes, we determined whether the plasticity geneArcmediates the development of normal visual response properties. Surprisingly, rather than mirroring the effects of visual deprivation, mice that lackArcshow increased numbers of binocular neurons during development. Strikingly, removingArcin adult binocular visual cortex increases the numbers of binocular neurons and recapitulates the developmental phenotype, suggesting cortical circuits that mediate visual processing require ongoing experience-dependent plasticity. Thus, experience is critical for the normal development and maintenance of circuits required to process binocular vision.

scholarly journals Development and Binocular Matching of Orientation Selectivity in Visual Cortex: A Computational Model

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xize Xu ◽  
Jianhua Cang ◽  
Hermann Riecke
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Computational Model ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Cortical Cell ◽  
Orientation Selectivity ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Matching Process ◽  
Eye Opening ◽  
Neuronal Systems ◽  
Information Streams

AbstractIn mouse visual cortex, right after eye-opening binocular cells have different orientation preferences for input from the two eyes. With normal visual experience during a critical period, these orientation preferences shift and eventually become well matched. To gain insight into the matching process, we developed a computational model of a cortical cell receiving - via plastic synapses - orientation selective inputs that are individually monocular. The model captures the experimentally observed matching of the orientation preferences, the dependence of matching on ocular dominance of the cell, and the relationship between the degree of matching and the resulting monocular orientation selectivity. Moreover, our model puts forward testable predictions: i) the matching speed increases with initial ocular dominance and decreases with initial orientation selectivity; ii) matching proceeds faster than the sharpening of the orientation selectivity, suggesting that orientation selectivity is not a driving force for the matching process; iii) there are two main routes to matching: the preferred orientations either drift towards each other or one of the orientations switches suddenly. The latter occurs for cells with large initial mismatch and can render the cell monocular. We expect that these results provide insight more generally into the development of neuronal systems that integrate inputs from multiple sources, including different sensory modalities.New & NoteworthyAnimals gather information through multiple modalities (vision, audition, touch, etc). These information streams have to be merged coherently to provide a meaningful representation of the world. Thus, for neurons in visual cortex V1 the orientation selectivities for inputs from the two eyes have to match to enable binocular vision. We analyze the postnatal process underlying this matching using computational modeling. It captures recent experimental results and reveals interdependence between matching, ocular dominance, and orientation selectivity.

scholarly journals Spontaneous retinal waves generate long-range horizontal connectivity in visual cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinwoo Kim ◽  
Min Song ◽  
Se-Bum Paik
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Developmental Model ◽  
List Type ◽  
Retinal Waves ◽  
Horizontal Connections ◽  
Eye Opening

AbstractIn the primary visual cortex (V1) of higher mammals, long-range horizontal connections (LHCs) are observed to develop, linking iso-orientation domains of cortical tuning. It is unknown how this feature-specific wiring of circuitry develops before eye opening. Here, we show that LHCs in V1 may originate from spatio-temporally structured feedforward activities generated from spontaneous retinal waves. Using model simulations based on the anatomy and observed activity patterns of the retina, we show that waves propagating in retinal mosaics can initialize the wiring of LHCs by co-activating neurons of similar tuning, whereas equivalent random activities cannot induce such organizations. Simulations showed that emerged LHCs can produce the patterned activities observed in V1, matching topography of the underlying orientation map. We also confirmed that the model can also reproduce orientation-specific microcircuits in salt-and-pepper organizations in rodents. Our results imply that early peripheral activities contribute significantly to cortical development of functional circuits.HighlightsDevelopmental model of long-range horizontal connections (LHCs) in V1 is simulatedSpontaneous retinal waves generate feature-specific wiring of LHCs in visual cortexEmerged LHCs induce orientation-matching patterns of spontaneous cortical activityRetinal waves induce orientation-specific microcircuits of visual cortex in rodentsSignificance statementLong-range horizontal connections (LHCs) in the primary visual cortex (V1) are observed to emerge before the onset of visual experience, selectively connecting iso-domains of orientation maps. However, it is unknown how such tuning-specific wirings develop before eye-opening. Here, we show that LHCs in V1 originate from the tuning-specific activation of cortical neurons by spontaneous retinal waves during early developmental stages. Our simulations of a visual cortex model show that feedforward activities from the retina initialize the spatial organization of activity patterns in V1, which induces visual feature-specific wirings of V1 neurons. Our model also explains the origin of cortical microcircuits observed in rodents, suggesting that the proposed developmental mechanism is applicable universally to circuits of various mammalian species.

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