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Correlated binocular activity guides recovery from monocular deprivation

Author

Listed:
  • Peter C. Kind

    (University Laboratory of Physiology
    University of Edinburgh, Hugh Robson Building)

  • Donald E. Mitchell

    (Dalhousie University)

  • Bashir Ahmed

    (University Laboratory of Physiology)

  • Colin Blakemore

    (University Laboratory of Physiology)

  • Tobias Bonhoeffer

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Neurobiologie)

  • Frank Sengpiel

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Neurobiologie
    Cardiff School of Biosciences)

Abstract

Monocular deprivation (MD) has much more rapid and severe effects on the ocular dominance of neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) than does binocular deprivation1. This finding underlies the widely held hypothesis that the developmental plasticity of ocular dominance reflects competitive interactions for synaptic space between inputs from the two eyes2. According to this view, the relative levels of evoked activity in afferents representing the two eyes determine functional changes in response to altered visual experience. However, if the deprived eye of a monocularly deprived kitten is simply reopened, there is substantial physiological and behavioural recovery, leading to the suggestion that absolute activity levels, or some other non-competitive mechanisms, determine the degree of recovery from MD3,4,5,6,7. Here we provide evidence that correlated binocular input is essential for such recovery. Recovery is far less complete if the two eyes are misaligned after a period of MD. This is a powerful demonstration of the importance of cooperative, associative mechanisms in the developing visual cortex.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter C. Kind & Donald E. Mitchell & Bashir Ahmed & Colin Blakemore & Tobias Bonhoeffer & Frank Sengpiel, 2002. "Correlated binocular activity guides recovery from monocular deprivation," Nature, Nature, vol. 416(6879), pages 430-433, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:416:y:2002:i:6879:d:10.1038_416430a
    DOI: 10.1038/416430a
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonathan J Hunt & Peter Dayan & Geoffrey J Goodhill, 2013. "Sparse Coding Can Predict Primary Visual Cortex Receptive Field Changes Induced by Abnormal Visual Input," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-17, May.
    2. Dániel L. Barabási & Gregor F. P. Schuhknecht & Florian Engert, 2024. "Functional neuronal circuits emerge in the absence of developmental activity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.

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