Interhemispheric synchrony in visual cortex and abnormal postnatal visual experience.
The question of whether neural synchrony may be preserved in adult mammalian visual cortex despite abnormal postnatal visual experience was investigated by combining anatomical and computational approaches. Single callosal axons in visual cortex of early monocularly deprived (MD) adult cats were labeled anterogradely with biocytin in vivo and reconstructed in 3D. Spike propagation was then orthodromically simulated within each of these axons with NEURON software. Data were systematically compared to those previously obtained in normally reared (NR) adult cats with comparable approaches. The architecture of the callosal axons in MD animals differed significantly from the NR group, with longer branches and first nodes located deeper below the cortex. But, surprisingly, simulation of spike propagation demonstrated that transmission latencies of most spikes remained inferior to 2 ms, like the NR group. These results indicate that synchrony of neural activity may be preserved in adult visual cortex despite abnormal postnatal visual experience. According to the temporal binding hypothesis, this also indicates that the necessary timing for visual perception is present despite anatomical abnormalities in visual cortex.
Foubert
Luc
L
Laboratoire de Physiologie de la Perception et de l'Action, College-de-France, CNRS UMR 7152, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France.
Bennequin
Daniel
D
Thomas
Marie-Annick
MA
Droulez
Jacques
J
Milleret
Chantal
C
D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002415:Cats; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000502:physiology*; D015349:Vision, Monocular / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*