scholarly journals The role of visual experience in brain inter-individual variability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sriparna Sen ◽  
Ningcong Tong ◽  
Xiaoying Wang ◽  
Yanchao Bi ◽  
Ella Striem-Amit
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Brain Plasticity ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Brain Organization

Visual cortex organization is highly consistent across individuals. But to what degree does this consistency depend on life experience, in particular sensory experience? In this study, we asked whether visual cortex reorganization in congenital blindness results in connectivity patterns that are particularly variable across individuals, focusing on resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) patterns from primary visual cortex. We show that the absence of shared visual experience results in more-variable RSFC patterns across blind individuals than sighted controls. Increased variability is specifically found in areas that show a group difference between the blind and sighted in their RSFC. These findings reveal a relationship between brain plasticity and individual variability in which reorganization manifests variably across individuals. We further investigated the different patterns of reorganization in the blind, showing that the connectivity to frontal regions, proposed to have a role in reorganization of the visual cortex of the blind towards higher cognitive roles, is highly variable. In a supplementary analysis, we link some of the variability in visual-to-frontal connectivity to another environmental factor - duration of formal education. Together, these findings show a role of sensory and socioeconomic experience in imposing consistency on brain organization. By revealing the idiosyncratic nature of neural reorganization, these findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences in fitting sensory aids and restoration approaches for vision loss.

scholarly journals COGNITIVE DECLINE AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN RURAL CHINA: THE PROTECTIVE ROLE OF FORMAL SCHOOLING

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S205-S206
Author(s):  
Yaolin Pei ◽  
Bei Wu ◽  
Zhen Cong ◽  
Mengyao Hu
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Sampling Strategy ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Formal Schooling

Abstract Evidence shows that education is strongly associated with cognitive functioning; however, few studies have examined the effect of education on cognitive decline among older adults with very limited education. Our study analyzed six waves of panel data (2001, 2003 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015) from the Longitudinal Study of Older Adults in Anhui Province, China. We estimated two-level multilevel models of cognitive functioning for older adults age 60+, sampled using probability sampling strategy. We found that having formal schooling was positively associated with better cognitive functioning. Older adults with formal schooling had slower decline in cognition and the gap in cognition between the literate and illiterate widened with age. These findings highlight the role of early life experience in affecting cognitive function in later life and suggest that disadvantages in cognitive functioning accumulate throughout the life course for persons with no formal education.

Functional postnatal development of the rat primary visual cortex and the role of visual experience: Dark rearing and monocular deprivation

1994 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 709-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michela Fagiolini ◽  
Tommaso Pizzorusso ◽  
Nicoletta Berardi ◽  
Luciano Domenici ◽  
Lamberto Maffei
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Postnatal Development ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Monocular Deprivation ◽  
Dark Rearing

scholarly journals Developmental plasticity in visual cortex is necessary for normal visuomotor integration and visuomotor skill learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix C Widmer ◽  
Georg B Keller
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Conditional Knockout ◽  
Visuomotor Integration ◽  
Visuomotor Task ◽  
Visuomotor Skills

The experience of coupling between motor output and visual feedback is necessary for the development of visuomotor skills and shapes visuomotor integration in visual cortex. Whether these experience-dependent changes involve plasticity in visual cortex remains unclear. Here, we probed the role of NMDA receptor-dependent plasticity in mouse primary visual cortex (V1) during visuomotor development. Using a conditional knockout of NMDA receptors and a photoactivatable inhibitor of CaMKII, we locally perturbed plasticity in V1 during first visual experience, recorded neuronal activity in V1, and tested the mice in a visuomotor task. We found that perturbing plasticity before, but not after, first visuomotor experience reduces responses to unpredictable stimuli, diminishes the suppression of predictable feedback in V1, and impairs visuomotor skill learning later in life. Our results demonstrate that plasticity in the local V1 circuit during early life is critical for shaping visuomotor integration.

scholarly journals A distinctive neural nexus in blind individuals supports Braille reading

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruxue WANG ◽  
Jiangtao GONG ◽  
Chenying ZHAO ◽  
Yingqing XU ◽  
Bo HONG
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Reading Proficiency ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Crossmodal Plasticity ◽  
Blind Individuals ◽  
Language Areas

In the absence of visual input, occipital 'visual' cortex of blind people has been found to be engaged in non-visual higher cognitive tasks. Although the increased functional connectivity between 'visual' cortex and frontal cortex in the blind has been observed, the specific organization and functional role of this connectivity change remain to be elucidated. Here, we tested resting-state functional connectivity for primary 'visual' cortex (V1) and higher-tier lateral occipital cortex (LOC) in people with acquired blindness, and found an enhanced connectivity between the LOC but not V1 and typical frontal language areas - the inferior frontal cortex (IFC). In fact, the left-lateralized LOC-IFC connectivity strength predicted blind individuals' natural Braille reading proficiency. Furthermore, an increased bidirectional information flow between the left LOC and IFC was observed during a natural Braille reading task. In particular, the task-relevant modulation of the top-down communication from left IFC to LOC was significantly stronger than that of the bottom-up communication. Altogether, our study identified a distinctive neural nexus, LOC-IFC connection, and its behavioral significance in the acquired blind, revealing the neural correlates of the crossmodal plasticity in their 'visual' cortex underlying natural Braille reading.

scholarly journals Synapse-selective control of cortical maturation and plasticity engages an interneuron-autonomous synaptic switch

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adema Ribic ◽  
Michael C. Crair ◽  
Thomas Biederer
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Cortical Plasticity ◽  
Brain Plasticity ◽  
Cortical Inhibition ◽  
Specific Cell ◽  
List Type ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Age Related

HighlightsThe synaptogenic molecule SynCAM 1 is selectively regulated by visual experienceSynCAM 1 controls thalamic input onto cortical Parvalbumin (PV+) interneuronsPV+-specific knockdown of SynCAM 1 arrests maturation of cortical inhibitionThalamic excitation onto PV+ interneurons is essential for critical period closureeTOC BlurbRibic et al. show that network plasticity in both young and adult cortex is restricted by the synapse organizing molecule SynCAM 1. On a cellular level, it functions in Parvalbumin-positive interneurons to recruit thalamocortical terminals. This controls the maturation of inhibitory drive and restricts plasticity in the cortex. These results reveal the synaptic locus of cortical plasticity and identify the first cell-autonomous synaptic factor for closure of cortical critical periods.SummaryBrain plasticity peaks early in life and tapers in adulthood. This is exemplified in the primary visual cortex, where brief loss of vision to one eye abrogates cortical responses to inputs from that eye during the critical period, but not in adulthood. The synaptic locus of critical period plasticity and the cell-autonomous synaptic factors timing these periods remain unclear. We here demonstrate that the immunoglobulin protein Synaptic Cell Adhesion Molecule 1 (SynCAM 1/Cadm1) is regulated by visual experience and limits visual cortex plasticity. SynCAM 1 selectively controls the number of excitatory thalamocortical (TC) inputs onto Parvalbumin (PV+) interneurons and loss of SynCAM 1 in turn impairs the maturation of TC-driven feed-forward inhibition. SynCAM 1 acts in cortical PV+ interneurons to perform these functions and its PV+-specific knockdown prevents the age-related plasticity decline. These results identify a synapse type-specific, cell-autonomous mechanism that governs circuit maturation and closes the visual critical period.

Increased amygdala-visual cortex connectivity in youth with persecutory ideation

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie N. DeCross ◽  
Amy H. Farabaugh ◽  
Avram J. Holmes ◽  
Maeve Ward ◽  
Emily A. Boeke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Visual Cortical

AbstractBackgroundSubclinical delusional ideas, including persecutory beliefs, in otherwise healthy individuals are heritable symptoms associated with increased risk for psychotic illness, possibly representing an expression of one end of a continuum of psychosis severity. The identification of variation in brain function associated with these symptoms may provide insights about the neurobiology of delusions in clinical psychosis.MethodsA resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan was collected from 131 young adults with a wide range of severity of subclinical delusional beliefs, including persecutory ideas. Because of evidence for a key role of the amygdala in fear and paranoia, resting-state functional connectivity of the amygdala was measured.ResultsConnectivity between the amygdala and early visual cortical areas, including striate cortex (V1), was found to be significantly greater in participants with high (n = 43) v. low (n = 44) numbers of delusional beliefs, particularly in those who showed persistence of those beliefs. Similarly, across the full sample, the number of and distress associated with delusional beliefs were positively correlated with the strength of amygdala-visual cortex connectivity. Moreover, further analyses revealed that these effects were driven by those who endorsed persecutory beliefs.ConclusionsThese findings are consistent with the hypothesis that aberrant assignments of threat to sensory stimuli may lead to the downstream development of delusional ideas. Taken together with prior findings of disrupted sensory-limbic coupling in psychosis, these results suggest that altered amygdala-visual cortex connectivity could represent a marker of psychosis-related pathophysiology across a continuum of symptom severity.

Mismatch between BDNF mRNA and protein expression in the developing visual cortex: the role of visual experience

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Tropea ◽  
Simona Capsoni ◽  
Enrico Tongiorgi ◽  
Sabina Giannotta ◽  
Antonino Cattaneo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Protein Expression ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Bdnf Mrna ◽  
Mrna And Protein Expression

scholarly journals Development of natural scene representation in primary visual cortex requires early postnatal experience

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Kowalewski ◽  
Janne Kauttonen ◽  
Patricia L. Stan ◽  
Brian B. Jeon ◽  
Thomas Fuchs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Natural Scene ◽  
Scene Representation ◽  
Scene Features

SummaryThe development of the visual system is known to be shaped by early-life experience. To identify response properties that contribute to enhanced natural scene representation, we performed calcium imaging of excitatory neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) of awake mice raised in three different conditions (standard-reared, dark-reared, and delayed-visual experience) and compared neuronal responses to natural scene features relative to simpler grating stimuli that varied in orientation and spatial frequency. We assessed population selectivity in V1 using decoding methods and found that natural scene discriminability increased by 75% between the ages of 4 to 6 weeks. Both natural scene and grating discriminability were higher in standard-reared animals compared to those raised in the dark. This increase in discriminability was accompanied by a reduction in the number of neurons that responded to low-spatial frequency gratings. At the same time there was an increase in neuronal preference for natural scenes. Light exposure restricted to a 2-4 week window during adulthood did not induce improvements in natural scene nor in grating stimulus discriminability. Our results demonstrate that experience reduces the number of neurons required to effectively encode grating stimuli and that early visual experience enhances natural scene discriminability by directly increasing responsiveness to natural scene features.

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