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Updated: Jul 24, 2025
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Monocular Visual Deprivation and Ocular Dominance Plasticity Measurement in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex
Published on: February 8, 2020
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Visual experience-dependent development of ocular dominance columns in pigmented rats
Qiuying Zhou1, Hangqi Li1,2, Songping Yao1,2
1Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310029, P. R. China.
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|July 7, 2023
Summary
Ocular dominance columns (ODCs) are present in pigmented rats and mice, developing through both visual experience-dependent and independent mechanisms. This finding challenges previous assumptions about rodent visual cortex structure.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Visual System Research
Background:
- Previous research indicated an absence of cortical column structure in the rodent visual cortex.
- Recent findings revealed ocular dominance columns (ODCs) in the primary visual cortex (V1) of adult Long-Evans rats.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the characteristics and developmental mechanisms of ODCs in rats.
- To determine if ODCs are conserved across different rat strains and in other rodent models.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of ODC presence in pigmented (Long-Evans, Brown Norway) versus albino rats.
- Activity-dependent gene expression analysis to assess ODC maturation timelines.
- Monocular deprivation experiments during the critical period.
- Transneuronal anterograde tracing before eye-opening.
Main Results:
- ODCs were conserved in Brown Norway rats but absent in albino rats, suggesting presence in pigmented wild rats.
- ODC maturation requires over two weeks post-eye-opening and is visual experience-dependent.
- Monocular deprivation altered ODC size and ocular dominance.
- Eye-dominant innervation was observed before eye-opening, indicating visual activity-independent components.
Conclusions:
- Rodent ODCs are influenced by both visual experience-dependent and independent factors during early development.
- Rats and mice serve as valuable models for studying the development of cortical columns.
- The presence of ODCs in pigmented rodents necessitates a re-evaluation of visual cortex organization in these species.
