Cholinergic and noradrenergic afferents influence the functional properties of the postnatal visual cortex in rats

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1015-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROSITA SICILIANO ◽  
FRANCESCO FORNAI ◽  
IRENE BONACCORSI ◽  
LUCIANO DOMENICI ◽  
PAOLA BAGNOLI
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Functional Properties ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Field Size ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Visual Cortical ◽  
Na Depletion

Based on previous evidence that acetylcholine (ACh) and noradrenaline (NA) play a permissive role in developmental plasticity in the kitten visual cortex, we reinvestigated this topic in the postnatal visual cortex of rats with normal vision. In rats, the functional properties of visual cortical cells develop gradually between the second and the sixth postnatal week (Fagiolini et al., 1994). Cortical cholinergic depletion, by basal forebrain (BF) lesions at postnatal day (PD) 15 (eye opening), leads to a transient disturbance in the distribution of ocular dominance (Siciliano et al., 1997). In the present study, we investigated the development of visual cortical response properties following cytotoxic lesions of the locus coeruleus (LC) alone or in combination with lesions of cholinergic BF. The main result is that early NA depletion impairs the orientation selectivity of cortical neurons, causes a slight increase of their receptive-field size, and reduces the signal-to-noise ratio of cell responses. Similar effects are obtained following NA depletion in adult animals, although the effects of adult noradrenergic deafferentation are significantly more severe than those obtained after early NA depletion. Additional cholinergic depletion causes an additional transient change in ocular-dominance distribution similarly to that obtained after cholinergic deafferentation alone. Comparisons between depletion of NA on the one hand and depletion of both NA and ACh on the other suggest that the effects of combined deafferentation on the functional properties studied result from simple linear addition of the effects of depleting each afferent system alone.

Postnatal development of functional properties of visual cortical cells in rats with excitotoxic lesions of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons

1997 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosita Siciliano ◽  
Gigliola Fontanesi ◽  
Fiorella Casamenti ◽  
Nicoletta Berardi ◽  
Paola Bagnoli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Postnatal Development ◽  
Functional Properties ◽  
Basal Forebrain ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Cholinergic Neurons ◽  
Field Size ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Visual Cortical

AbstractIn the rat, visual cortical cells develop their functional properties during a period termed as critical period, which is included between eye opening, i.e.˘postnatal day (PD) 15, and PD40. The present investigation was aimed at studying the influence of cortical cholinergic afferents from the basal forebrain (BF) on the development of functional properties of visual cortical neurons. At PD15, rats were unilaterally deprived of the cholinergic input to the visual cortex by stereotaxic injections of quisqualic acid in BF cholinergic nuclei projecting to the visual cortex. Cortical cell functional properties, such as ocular dominance, orientation selectivity, receptive-field size, and cell responsiveness were then assessed by extracellular recordings in the visual cortex ipsilateral to the lesioned BF both during the critical period (PD30) and after its end (PD45). After the recording session, the rats were sacrificed and the extent of both cholinergic lesion in BF and cholinergic depletion in the visual cortex was determined. Our results show that lesion of BF cholinergic nuclei transiently alters the ocular dominance of visual cortical cells while it does not affect the other functional properties tested. In particular, in lesioned animals recorded during the critical period, a higher percentage of visual cortical cells was driven by the contralateral eye with respect to normal animals. After the end of the critical period, the ocular dominance distribution of animals with cholinergic deafferentation was not significantly different from that of controls. Our results suggest the possibility that lesions of BF cholinergic neurons performed during postnatal development only transiently interfere with cortical competitive processes.

scholarly journals A Theory of the Visual Motion Coding in the Primary Visual Cortex

1996 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaoping Li
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Phase Relationship ◽  
Field Size ◽  
Color Channel ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Motion Direction ◽  
Motion Coding

This paper demonstrates that much of visual motion coding in the primary visual cortex can be understood from a theory of efficient motion coding in a multiscale representation. The theory predicts that cortical cells can have a spectrum of directional indices, be tuned to different directions of motion, and have spatiotemporally separable or inseparable receptive fields (RF). The predictions also include the following correlations between motion coding and spatial, chromatic, and stereo codings: the preferred speed is greater when the cell receptive field size is larger, the color channel prefers lower speed than the luminance channel, and both the optimal speeds and the preferred directions of motion can be different for inputs from different eyes to the same neuron. These predictions agree with experimental observations. In addition, this theory makes predictions that have not been experimentally investigated systematically and provides a testing ground for an efficient multiscale coding framework. These predictions are as follows: (1) if nearby cortical cells of a given preferred orientation and scale prefer opposite directions of motion and have a quadrature RF phase relationship with each other, then they will have the same directional index, (2) a single neuron can have different optimal motion speeds for opposite motion directions of monocular stimuli, and (3) a neuron's ocular dominance may change with motion direction if the neuron prefers opposite directions for inputs from different eyes.

Modulatory effects of catecholamines on neurons of the rat visual cortex: single-cell iontophoretic studies

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 615-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlette Kolta ◽  
Tomás A. Reader
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Adrenergic Receptors ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Firing Frequency ◽  
Adrenergic Agonist ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Hyperpolarizing Response ◽  
Main Component ◽  
Visual Cortical

The catecholamines noradrenaline and dopamine have been proposed as neuromodulators of cortical neuron excitability, and such a regulation could be mediated by specific adrenergic and dopaminergic receptors. We characterized electrophysiologically some of the types of responses to the iontophoretic application of adrenergic and dopaminergic agonists and antagonists on single cells in the rat visual cortex (areas occipital 1 monocular or Oc 1 M and occipital 1 binocular or Oc 1 B). For the majority of spontaneously active and visual cortical cells, noradrenaline and dopamine decreased the firing frequency. In the case of visually driven (synaptically activated) neurons, background firing was the main component of the response to be inhibited by the administration of noradrenaline, clonidine, and oxymetazoline, leading to an enhancement of the signal-to-noise ratio. Since these effects could be reduced or blocked by a previous ejection of the specific α2-antagonist idazoxan, the findings support a role for α2-adrenergic receptors in the transmission of sensory inputs to the visual cortex. These effects were not found with the mixed α-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine nor with the β-agonist isoproterenol. Finally, the use of the inhibitory amino acid GABA rules out a simple hyperpolarizing response as the mechanism underlying noradrenaline modulatory effects in the cerebral cortex.Key words: visual cortex, noradrenaline, dopamine, iontophoresis, neuromodulators.

scholarly journals Diversity of feature selectivity in macaque visual cortex arising from limited number of broadly-tuned input channels

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yamni S. Mohan ◽  
Jaikishan Jayakumar ◽  
Errol K.J. Lloyd ◽  
Ekaterina Levichkina ◽  
Trichur R. Vidyasagar
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Thalamic Input ◽  
Feature Selectivity ◽  
The One ◽  
Visual Cortical ◽  
Orientation Domain ◽  
Preferred Stimulus

AbstractSpikes (action potential) responses of most primary visual cortical cells in the macaque are sharply tuned for the orientation of a line or an edge and neurons preferring similar orientations are clustered together in cortical columns. The preferred stimulus orientation of these columns span the full range of orientations, as observed in recordings of spikes, which represent the outputs of cortical neurons. However, when we imaged also the thalamic input to these cells that occur on a larger spatial scale, we found that the orientation domain map of the primary visual cortex did not show the diversity of orientations exhibited by signals representing outputs of the cells. This map was dominated by just the one orientation that is most commonly represented in subcortical responses. This supports cortical feature selectivity and columnar architecture being built upon feed-forward signals transmitted from the thalamus in a very limited number of broadly-tuned input channels.

Role of visual experience in activating critical period in cat visual cortex

1985 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 572-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D. Mower ◽  
W. G. Christen
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Orientation Selectivity ◽  
Monocular Deprivation ◽  
Total Darkness ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Visual Cortical ◽  
Dark Rearing ◽  
Made In

Cats were reared in total darkness from birth until 4-5 mo of age (DR cats, n = 7) or with very brief visual experience (1 or 2 days) during an otherwise similar period of dark rearing [DR(1) cats, n = 3; DR(2) cats, n = 7]. Single-cell recordings were made in area 17 of visual cortex at the end of this rearing period and/or after a subsequent prolonged period of monocular deprivation. Control observations were made in normal cats (n = 3), cats reared with monocular deprivation from birth (n = 4), and cats monocularly deprived after being reared normally until 4 mo of age (n = 2). After rearing cats in total darkness, the majority of visual cortical cells were binocularly driven and the overall distribution of ocular dominance was not different from that of normal cats. Orientation-selective cells were very rare in dark-reared cats. Monocular deprivation imposed after dark rearing resulted in selective development of connections from the open eye. Most cells were responsive only to the open eye and the majority of these were orientation selective. These results were similar to, though less severe than, those found in cats reared with monocular deprivation from birth. Monocular deprivation imposed after 4 mo of normal rearing did not produce selective development of connections from the open eye in terms of either ocular dominance or orientation selectivity. In DR(1) cats visual cortical physiology was degraded in comparison to dark-reared cats after the rearing period. Most cells were binocularly driven but there was a higher frequency of unresponsive cells and a reduced frequency of orientation-selective cells. Subsequent monocular deprivation resulted in a further decrease in the number of binocularly driven cells and an increase in unresponsive cells. However, it did not produce a bias in favor of the open eye in terms of either ocular dominance or orientation selectivity. In DR(2) cats there was a high incidence of unresponsive cells and a marked loss of binocularly driven cells after the rearing period. Subsequent monocular deprivation failed to produce any significant changes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

scholarly journals Precise levels of nectin-3 are required for proper synapse formation in postnatal visual cortex

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Tomorsky ◽  
Philip R. L. Parker ◽  
Chris Q. Doe ◽  
Cristopher M. Niell
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Dendritic Spine ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Synapse Formation ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Developmental Time ◽  
Basal Dendrites ◽  
Layer 2 ◽  
Eye Opening ◽  
Visual Cortical

Abstract Background Developing cortical neurons express a tightly choreographed sequence of cytoskeletal and transmembrane proteins to form and strengthen specific synaptic connections during circuit formation. Nectin-3 is a cell-adhesion molecule with previously described roles in synapse formation and maintenance. This protein and its binding partner, nectin-1, are selectively expressed in upper-layer neurons of mouse visual cortex, but their role in the development of cortical circuits is unknown. Methods Here we block nectin-3 expression (via shRNA) or overexpress nectin-3 in developing layer 2/3 visual cortical neurons using in utero electroporation. We then assay dendritic spine densities at three developmental time points: eye opening (postnatal day (P)14), one week following eye opening after a period of heightened synaptogenesis (P21), and at the close of the critical period for ocular dominance plasticity (P35). Results Knockdown of nectin-3 beginning at E15.5 or ~ P19 increased dendritic spine densities at P21 or P35, respectively. Conversely, overexpressing full length nectin-3 at E15.5 decreased dendritic spine densities when all ages were considered together. The effects of nectin-3 knockdown and overexpression on dendritic spine densities were most significant on proximal secondary apical dendrites. Interestingly, an even greater decrease in dendritic spine densities, particularly on basal dendrites at P21, was observed when we overexpressed nectin-3 lacking its afadin binding domain. Conclusion These data collectively suggest that the proper levels and functioning of nectin-3 facilitate normal synapse formation after eye opening on apical and basal dendrites in layer 2/3 of visual cortex.

Genetic instructions and developmental plasticity in the kitten’s visual cortex

1977 ◽  
Vol 278 (961) ◽  
pp. 425-434 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Retrograde Transport ◽  
Monocular Deprivation ◽  
Neutral Density Filter ◽  
Density Filter ◽  
Adult Cat ◽  
Genetic Instructions

Two major properties of neurons in the kitten’s visual cortex, binocularity and orientation selectivity, are present when the eyes first open, and therefore can be established by genetic instructions alone. However, both of these attributes require visual experience for their maintenance or strengthening; and both can be rapidly modified by unusual kinds of experience. Alternating sequences of cells dominated by one eye, then the other, can be recorded during penetrations through the cortex in binocularly deprived kittens, typical of the ‘ocular dominance columns’ of the normal adult cat. However, if one eye is deprived by lid-suture, the entire visual cortex becomes strongly dominated by the open eye. Experiments in which each eye saw separately through a transparent neutral density filter or a translucent diffuser showed that this phenomenon is caused not by the reduction in retinal illumination, but by the abolition of contrast in the deprived eye. A study of the retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase from the visual cortex to the principal laminae of the lateral geniculate nucleus suggested that monocular deprivation from early in life may lead to a gross reduction in the distribution of afferent fibres from the deprived laminae. Previous experiments have found that if a kitten is exposed only to contours of one orientation, its cortical neurons become modified in their distribution of preferred orientations. This phenomenon was re-confirmed in a new study using a rigorously objective method of analysis.

scholarly journals Precise levels of Nectin-3 and an interaction with Afadin are required for proper synapse formation in postnatal visual cortex

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Tomorsky ◽  
Philip R. L. Parker ◽  
Chris Q. Doe ◽  
Cristopher M. Niell
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Dendritic Spine ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Synapse Formation ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Developmental Time ◽  
Ocular Dominance Plasticity ◽  
Layer 2 ◽  
Eye Opening ◽  
Visual Cortical

AbstractBackgroundDeveloping cortical neurons express a tightly choreographed sequence of cytoskeletal and transmembrane proteins to form and strengthen specific synaptic connections during circuit formation. Nectin-3 is a cell-adhesion molecule with previously described roles in synapse formation and maintenance. This protein and its binding partner, Nectin-1, are selectively expressed in upper-layer neurons of mouse visual cortex, but their role in the development of cortical circuits is unknown.MethodsHere we block Nectin-3 expression (via shRNA) or overexpress Nectin-3 in developing layer 2/3 visual cortical neurons using in utero electroporation. We then assay dendritic spine densities at three developmental time points: eye opening (postnatal day (P)14), one week following eye opening after a period of heightened synaptogenesis (P21), and at the close of the critical period for ocular dominance plasticity (P35).ResultsKnockdown of Nectin-3 beginning at E15.5 or ∼P19 increased dendritic spine densities at P21 or P35, respectively. Conversely, overexpressing full length Nectin-3 at E15.5 led to decreased dendritic spine densities when all ages were considered together. Interestingly, an even greater decrease in dendritic spine densities, particularly at P21, was observed when we overexpressed Nectin-3 lacking its Afadin binding domain, indicating Afadin may facilitate spine morphogenesis after eye opening.ConclusionThese data collectively suggest that the proper levels of Nectin-3, as well as the interaction of Nectin-3 with Afadin, facilitate normal synapse formation after eye opening in layer 2/3 visual cortical neurons.

scholarly journals No on-off Maps in Supragranular Layers of Ferret Visual Cortex

2002 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 2163-2166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Chapman ◽  
Imke Gödecke
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Cortical Layer ◽  
Cortical Function ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Cortical Inputs ◽  
Cortical Receptive Fields ◽  
Visual Cortical

Primary visual cortex contains functional maps of a number of stimulus properties including ocular dominance, orientation, direction, color, and spatial frequency. These maps must be organized with respect to each other and to a single continuous retinotopic map of visual space such that each stimulus parameter is represented at each point in space. In the ferret, geniculo-cortical inputs to cortical layer IV are segregated into on- andoff-center patches, suggesting the possibility that there might be an additional cortical map in this species. We have used optical imaging of intrinsic signals to search for on-offmaps in ferret visual cortical cells and have found none. This suggests that the high degree of on-off segregation seen subcortically in the ferret may play a role in the development of visual cortical receptive fields rather than in adult cortical function.

Critical periods for functional and anatomical compensation in lateral suprasylvian visual area following removal of visual cortex in cats

1984 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 941-960 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Tong ◽  
R. E. Kalil ◽  
P. D. Spear
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Direction Selectivity ◽  
Visual Area ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Cortex Lesion ◽  
Thalamic Projections ◽  
Adult Cats ◽  
Visual Cortical

Previous experiments have found that neurons in the cat's lateral suprasylvian (LS) visual area of cortex show functional compensation following removal of visual cortical areas 17, 18, and 19 on the day of birth. Correspondingly, an enhanced retino-thalamic pathway to LS cortex develops in these cats. The present experiments investigated the critical periods for these changes. Unilateral lesions of areas 17, 18, and 19 were made in cats ranging in age from 1 day postnatal to 26 wk. When the cats were adult, single-cell recordings were made from LS cortex ipsilateral to the lesion. In addition, transneuronal autoradiographic methods were used to trace the retino-thalamic projections to LS cortex in many of the same animals. Following lesions in 18- and 26-wk-old cats, there is a marked reduction in direction-selective LS cortex cells and an increase in cells that respond best to stationary flashing stimuli. These results are similar to those following visual cortex lesions in adult cats. In contrast, the percentages of cells with these properties are normal following lesions made from 1 day to 12 wk of age. Thus the critical period for development of direction selectivity and greater responses to moving than to stationary flashing stimuli in LS cortex following a visual cortex lesion ends between 12 and 18 wk of age. Following lesions in 26-wk-old cats, there is a decrease in the percentage of cells that respond to the ipsilateral eye, which is similar to results following visual cortex lesions in adult cats. However, ocular dominance is normal following lesions made from 1 day to 18 wk of age. Thus the critical period for development of responses to the ipsilateral eye following a lesion ends between 18 and 26 wk of age. Following visual cortex lesions in 2-, 4-, or 8-wk-old cats, about 30% of the LS cortex cells display orientation selectivity to elongated slits of light. In contrast, few or no cells display this property in normal adult cats, cats with lesions made on the day of birth, or cats with lesions made at 12 wk of age or later. Thus an anomalous property develops for many LS cells, and the critical period for this property begins later (between 1 day and 2 wk) and ends earlier (between 8 and 12 wk) than those for other properties.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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