Emergence of functional circuits in ferret visual cortex visualized by optical imaging.
The emergence of functional lateral interactions in ferret visual cortex was monitored using high speed optical imaging of voltage-sensitive dye signals in brain slices. Prior to the time of eye opening, lateral activation was restricted to a narrow columnar region. During the week following eye opening, the extent of lateral propagation of activity more than doubled. Selective interruption of specific pathways in the slice, combined with pharmacological and anatomical experiments, determined that this lateral propagation was mediated by horizontal projections made within layer 2/3. These results indicate that functional horizontal interactions emerge only after axons begin branching and in parallel with, but not prior to, the refinement of orientation selectivity.
Nelson
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DA
Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
Katz
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LC
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005289:Ferrets / Q000502:physiology*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007736:Kynurenic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*
D004396:Coloring Agents; D007736:Kynurenic Acid