title: A postnatal critical period for orientation plasticity in the cat visual cortex.
abstract: Orientation selectivity of primary visual cortical neurons is an important requisite for shape perception. Although numerous studies have been previously devoted to a question of how orientation selectivity is established and elaborated in early life, how the susceptibility of orientation plasticity to visual experience changes in time remains unclear. In the present study, we showed a postnatal sensitive period profile for the modifiability of orientation selectivity in the visual cortex of kittens reared with head-mounted goggles for stable single-orientation exposure. When goggle rearing (GR) started at P16-P30, 2 weeks of GR induced a marked over-representation of the exposed orientation, and 2 more weeks of GR consolidated the altered orientation maps. GR that started later than P50, in turn, induced the under-representation of the exposed orientation. Orientation plasticity in the most sensitive period was markedly suppressed by cortical infusion of NMDAR antagonist. The present study reveals that the plasticity and consolidation of orientation selectivity in an early life are dynamically regulated in an experience-dependent manner.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Visual Neurocomputing, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako, Saitama, Japan. shigeru@riken.jp
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Toshiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tani
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ribot
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: O'Hashi
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imamura
mesh_terms: D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009949:Orientation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate