Failure to preserve cortical binocularity in strabismic monkeys raised in a unidirectional visual environment

It has been claimed that cortical binocularity can be preserved by raising exotropic kittens in a visual environment consisting of spatially periodic contours. We raised visually immature monkeys (Macaca mulatta) with prismatically or surgically induced horizontal and vertical strabismus in a visual environment consisting exclusively of vertical stripes. Electrophysiologic studies of the striate cortex yielded results that are comparable to those obtained in strabismic monkeys raised in an unrestricted visual environment. Thus we cannot confirm in strabismic monkeys that binocularly responding cortical neurons can be preserved by exposing the animals to a nonconflicting repetitive visual environment