Visual fields of monocularly deprived macaque monkeys.
The effects of postnatal monocular deprivation have been studied in macaque monkeys using behavioral perimetry field testing. The types of deprivation were: (1) early eyelid suture at 22-26 days after birth and then reverse suture at 10-13 months postnatally, (2) late eyelid suture beginning at 3 or 5 months postnatally and continued for 18 months, and (3) long-term occlusion by contact lenses. Response levels were normal for group 1 monkeys with some reduction in visual field extent. A reduced response level but no change in visual field extent was observed for the deprived eyes of group 2 monkeys. One monkey from group 3 that wore an occluder lens from birth to 19 months postnatally had no responses in any part of the visual field. Two other monkeys of group 3, whose occlusion started at 9 or 12 days of age and lasted for 2 years, had no responses to stimuli presented to the previously occluded eyes in their nasal visual fields and had reduced levels of response to stimuli presented in their temporal fields. The results indicate that the effects of monocular deprivation on macaque monkeys are affected by the start, length and type of deprivation. Some of these results are also consistent with a model of binocular competition in which the magnitude of the competition declines along a nasal-to-temporal gradient of visual field eccentricity. However, a mechanism that is independent of binocular competition is needed to account for the loss of responses to stimuli presented in the monocular visual segment.
Wilson
J R
JR
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322.
Lavallee
K A
KA
Joosse
M V
MV
Hendrickson
A E
AE
Boothe
R G
RG
Harwerth
R S
RS
D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008254:Macaca nemestrina; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D014794:Visual Fields; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*