Elsevier

Vision Research

Volume 32, Issue 5, May 1992, Pages 789-796
Vision Research

Rapid reorganization of cortical maps in adult cats following restricted deafferentation in retina

https://doi.org/10.1016/0042-6989(92)90021-AGet rights and content

The retinotopic map in the visual cortex of adult mammals can reorganize in response to a small injury in a restricted region of retina. Although the mechanisms underlying this neural plasticity in adults are not well understood, it is possible that rapid, adaptive alterations in the effectiveness of existing connections play a key role in the reorganization of cortical topography following peripheral deafferentation. In order to test this hypothesis, a small retinal lesion was made in one eye of adult cats and the visual cortex was mapped before and immediately after enucleating the non-lesioned eye. We found that substantial reorganization takes place within hours of enucleation.

References (31)

  • GilbertC.D. et al.

    Columnar specificity of intrinsic horizontal and corticocortical connections in cat visual cortex

    Journal of Neuroscience

    (1989)
  • GilbertC.D. et al.

    Reorganization of topography of macaque primary visual cortex following focal retinal lesions

    Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science

    (1991)
  • GilbertC.D. et al.

    Lateral interactions in visual cortex

  • HeinenS.J. et al.

    Recovery of visual responses in foveal VI neurons following bilateral foveal lesions in adult monkeys

    Experimental Brain Research

    (1991)
  • HirschJ.A. et al.

    Synaptic physiology of horizontal connections in the cat's visual cortex

    Journal of Neuroscience

    (1991)
  • Cited by (251)

    • V1 Projection Zone Signals in Human Macular Degeneration Depend on Task Despite Absence of Visual Stimulus

      2021, Current Biology
      Citation Excerpt :

      The tactile/auditory-task-dependent BOLD responses tend to be the most prominent in the foveal V1 corresponding to the LPZ (especially for JMD1), although they extend into the intact visual fields for some patients (e.g., JMD2 and 3 in the eyes-closed condition of the tactile stimuli). Over the last several decades, the interpretation of neural responses in V1 LPZ after the retinal lesion has been actively debated.5,29–36 Some investigators proposed that responses in V1 LPZ are explained by cortical remapping mediated by axonal sprouting.37–39

    • Amblyopia

      2021, Handbook of Clinical Neurology
      Citation Excerpt :

      These studies suggest that the connections from the amblyopic eye may be suppressed rather than destroyed. Loss of the fellow eye would allow these existing connections to be unmasked, as occurs in adult cats with retinal lesions (Chino et al., 1992; but see Smirnakis et al., 2005). Of course removing one eye is not an option for treatment; however, these findings strongly implicate suppression by the nonamblyopic eye in visual performance, which needs to be considered in designing an effective treatment.

    • Rethinking amblyopia 2020

      2020, Vision Research
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text