Recovery of binocular function in kitten visual cortex.
1. This paper describes the results of an experiment designed to examine the ability of cells in the kitten's visual cortex to regain functional binocular connections following exposure to a brief period of visual deprivation. 2. Normal 4-wk-old kittens were exposed to a total of 12 h of optically induced strabismus over a period of 2 days, and single-unit recordings made the following day indicated that the proportion of striate cortex cells with binocular receptive fields had decreased sharply as a result of this episode of strabismic vision. 3. When these kittens were revived and allowed to experience a recovery period of normal binocular vision lasting either 3 or 7 wk, cortical binocularity returned to a normal level. 4. Statistical analysis revealed that the difference in the level of binocularity observed before and after the period of binocular recovery was highly significant, and comparison of the results from kittens allowed only a 3-wk recovery period with those from kittens allowed a 7-wk period indicated that a similar level of recovery was obtained in each group. 5. Histological reconstruction of electrode penetrations indicated that the recovery of binocular receptive fields occurred uniformly across all cortical laminae. 6. These data are discussed in terms of the results from previous recovery experiments, the relationship between cortical binocularity and the ability to maintain binocular fixation, and the possibility that subliminal cortical input plays a role in the recovery of functional binocular cells.
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D004594:Electrophysiology; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D013285:Strabismus / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D013997:Time Factors; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*