Astigmatic visual and deprivation in cat: behavioral, optical and retinophysiological consequences.
Kittens were deprived of clear vision in one eye only by +7D or -7D cylindrical lenses worn from eye opening until 7.5 months of age. Behavioral measurements subsequently demonstrated diminished acuity through the affected eye relative to the opposite control eye. However, single unit recordings at 3.5 years of age from retinal ganglion cells located within 1-11 degrees of the centre of the area centralis showed neither loss of grating resolution nor any abnormal orientation bias. Furthermore, the astigmatic rearing had minimal effect on the development of the cat's natural optics to the emmetropic state. The experiments indicate that the amblyopic defect induced by the cylindrical lenses occurs in the brain rather than the eye.
D000367:Age Factors; D000550:Amblyopia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D001251:Astigmatism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002415:Cats; D005135:Eye Protective Devices; D012160:Retina / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012683:Sensory Deprivation; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*