The spatial localization deficit in visually deprived kittens

We measured the spatial localization abilities (alignment accuracy) of visually deprived kittens by use of similar spatially bandpass stimuli (Gaussian blobs) to those employed for the assessment of human amblyopes. The tests of vision were conducted on kittens reared with either strabismus or following different periods of monocular deprivation. As with amblyopic humans, the deficits in alignment accuracy were scaled in proportion to blob size and were not only considerably larger than those of grating acuity but also were not correlated with either the acuity or contrast sensitivity losses. Tests with stimuli of various contrast revealed that the deficits could not be explained in terms of the contrast sensitivity loss in this eye. The positional deficits that arise from anomalous visual development are independent of the contrast sensitivity loss and profound.