Experience-dependent plasticity of visual acuity in rats

Citation
Gt. Prusky et al., Experience-dependent plasticity of visual acuity in rats, EUR J NEURO, 12(10), 2000, pp. 3781-3786
Citations number
45
Categorie Soggetti
Neurosciences & Behavoir
Journal title
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
ISSN journal
0953816X → ACNP
Volume
12
Issue
10
Year of publication
2000
Pages
3781 - 3786
Database
ISI
SICI code
0953-816X(200010)12:10<3781:EPOVAI>2.0.ZU;2-X
Abstract
Rats have become a popular model for investigating the mechanisms underlyin g ocular dominance plasticity; however, no quantitative assessment of the e ffects of visual deprivation on behavioural acuity has been reported in thi s species. We measured the spatial acuity of monocularly and binocularly de prived rats with a visual discrimination task. The average spatial acuity o f normal rats and rats deprived of vision after postnatal day 40 was approx imate to 1 cycle/degree. Monocular deprivation up to postnatal day 40 resul ted in a 30% decrease in acuity and there was no recovery after 8 months. I dentical binocular deprivation produced a comparable but significantly smal ler reduction in acuity. The deleterious effects of monocular and binocular deprivation on visual acuity indicate that the development of cortical rec eptive field properties related to spatial tuning are affected by both mono cular and binocular deprivation. The similarities in the effects of visual deprivation on visual acuity between rats and other mammals confirm that ra ts are a good model system for studying the cellular and molecular mechanis ms underlying experience-dependent visual plasticity.