The effects of total unilateral occlusion vs. lid suture on the visual system of infant monkeys

To explore the premise that the immature primate visual system responds differently to total unilateral occlusion (no competitive abnormal binocular interaction) than it does to lid suture, one eye in two infant Macaca mulatta was completely occluded with optically opaque material. After a recovery period of 2 months, single cell responses from the striate cortex were recorded, and the lateral geniculate nuclei were examined histologically. Th results show that cortical and geniculate changes are comparable in severity to those found in earlier studies after unilateral lid suture.