Visual experience and maturation of retinal synaptic pathways
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Updated: Aug 1, 2026

Electrophysiological Investigations of Retinogeniculate and Corticogeniculate Synapse Function
Published on: August 7, 2019
1Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science and Department of Neurobiology, School of Medicine, Yale University, 330 Cedar St., BML 212, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. ning.tian@yale.edu
Abstract:
The retinal synaptic network continues its maturational refinement after eye opening in mammals. This synaptic refinement is reflected in changes of retinal neuron synaptic activity and connectivity. In mature retina, the dendrites of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the inner plexiform layer (IPL) of retina are separated into ON or OFF sublamina. At early developmental stage, however, the dendrites of most RGCs are ramified throughout the IPL. Recently we found that the postnatal maturational processes converting bistratified ON-OFF responsive RGCs to monostratified ON and OFF responsive RGCs depend upon visual stimulation after eye opening.
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