POST-CRUCIAL PERIOD EFFECTS OF VISUAL EXPERIENCE AND DEPRIVATION ON THE GUINEA-PIG SUPERIOR COLLICULAR MAP OF AUDITORY SPACE

There were two primary aims of this study. First, to observe if the ma p of auditory space in the superior colliculus (SC) of the guinea-pig could recover after periods of normal visual experience following visu al deprivation during the crucial period. Second, to determine whether any degradation of the space map was observed when the animal was vis ually deprived for different lengths of time after the crucial period. Animals deprived of visual experience during the crucial period and t hen allowed normal experience did show a limited ability to construct a SC auditory space map. Whereas visual deprivation following normal a uditory and visual experience during the crucial period caused a profo und degradation, of both spatial tuning and topography, of auditory re ceptive fields in the SC. Additional data indicate that the SC auditor y space map remains vulnerable to visual deprivation until at least 10 0 days after birth.