title: Ocular dominance development revisited.
abstract: New approaches to the study of ocular dominance development, a model system for the development of neural architecture, indicate that eye-specific columns in primary visual cortex emerge substantially before the onset of the critical period, during which neural connections can be altered by visual experience. The timing, speed and specificity of column emergence implicate molecular patterning mechanisms, along with patterns of neural activity, in the generation of this columnar architecture.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Neurobiology, Box 3209, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
authors.forename: Justin C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Crowley
authors.forename: Lawrence C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Katz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology