Early face deprivation leads to long-lasting deficits in cortical face processing

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Visual Cortex Plasticity

Background:

• Experience-dependent plasticity is crucial for sensory cortex development, typically confined to early critical periods.
• The developmental timing of plasticity in higher-order cortical areas, like face processing regions, remains poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether higher-order visual cortex retains plasticity beyond early development.
• To determine how the timing of visual experience influences the formation of face-selective neural representations in primates.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a macaque model with selective face deprivation during development.
• Monkeys underwent years of normal face exposure following the deprivation period.
• Analyzed behavioral and neural face-selective responses to assess plasticity and representation refinement.

Main Results:

• Face-deprived monkeys developed face-directed viewing behavior and neural face selectivity after later exposure.
• Neural representations showed lasting effects of early experience, including mixed face/hand selectivity.
• Impaired tuning for face identity, expression, and viewpoint was observed in representations.

Conclusions:

• Higher-order visual cortex exhibits plasticity beyond early developmental stages.
• The timing of initial visual experience significantly constrains the refinement of neural representations acquired later in life.