The rate of recovery of vision after early monocular deprivation in kittens (original) (raw)
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The permanence of the visual recovery that follows reverse occlusion of monocularly deprived kittens
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
While the behavioral and physiologic effects of an early period of monocular deprivation can be extremely severe, they are not necessarily irreversible. Considerable recovery can occur if visual input is restored to the deprived eye sufficiently early, particularly if the nondeprived eye is occluded at the same time (reverse occlusion). This study examines the permanence of the visual recovery promoted by a period of reverse occlusion in kittens that were monocularly deprived from near birth for periods ranging from 3 to 18 weeks. During the period of reverse occlusion, the vision of the initially deprived eye improved from apparent blindness to good levels of acuity. However, upon restoring visual input to the formerly nondeprived eye a surprisingly rapid and reciprocal change occurred in the visual acuity of both eyes. Much of the substantial gain in the vision of the initially deprived eye that occurred during reverse occlusion was lost within 3 weeks, while at the same time the vision of the initially nondeprived eye improved substantially. Nevertheless, in many animals the acuity of the initially nondeprived eye did not recover to levels it had reached prior to reverse occlusion. These results hold important implications for the nature of the mechanisms responsible for the dramatic physiologic effects of monocular occlusion and reverse occlusion on the visual cortex. The results also may help elucidate recent observations on patching therapy in human amblyopia. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 25: [908][909][910][911][912][913][914][915][916][917] 1984
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2001
A comparison was made of the speed of visual recovery in the deprived eye of kittens after a 6-day period of monocular deprivation imposed at 5-9 weeks of age in two postdeprivation conditions. In one condition, binocular recovery (BR), both eyes were open, whereas in the other condition, reverse lid-suture (RLS), the formerly nondeprived eye was closed to force the animal to use the originally deprived eye. In littermate pairs, BR kittens began to recover form vision 12 to 30 h before those subjected to
Experimental Brain Research, 1983
The relative efficacy of distributed versus massed reverse occlusion therapy in promoting recovery from the anatomical and physiological effects of monocular deprivation was studied in two experiments performed on kittens raised with one eye occluded from eye-opening until 5 weeks of age. The first experiment explored the effects of different periods (ranging from 0.5 to 4 h) of reverse occlusion imposed daily for 20 days. The second, involving a fixed period of reverse occlusion (20 h), examined recovery with respect to the distribution of that period over a varied number of brief daily sessions. Recovery was assessed in terms of changes in cortical ocular dominance and lateral geniculate cell morphology. Although recovery of both cortical ocular dominance and geniculate cell morphology showed the same overall progression with increasing periods of reverse occlusion, changes were apparent in the lateral geniculate nucleus before changes were evident in cortical ocular dominance. A given period of reverse occlusion was found to be far more effective in promoting recovery when distributed over a number of different exposure sessions than when massed together in just one or two sessions. The data suggest that there is a maximal rate of cortical recovery which is achieved with surprisingly brief daily periods of forced visual exposure of the initially deprived eye.
Reversal of the physiological effects of monocular deprivation in adult dark-reared cats
Brain Research, 1986
If kittens are dark-reared for 4 months and subsequently monocularly sutured, cells in area 17 become dominated by the experienced eye. We now find that (a) the effects of monocular deprivation in adult dark-reared cats can be reversed by suturing the experienced eye and allowing the cat to use the deprived eye, an effect that has previously been shown only in young kittens. (b) The presence of continuous or nearly continuous visual experience during infancy is required for the critical period to exhaust itself-brief periods of visual experience will not suffice.
Neural Plasticity, 2019
Recent studies conducted on kittens have revealed that the reduced visual acuity of the deprived eye following a short period of monocular deprivation imposed in early life is reversed quickly following a 10-day period spent in total darkness. This study explored the contribution of the fellow eye to the darkness-induced recovery of the acuity of the deprived eye. Upon emergence of kittens from darkness, the fellow eye was occluded for different lengths of time in order to investigate its effects on either the speed or the extent of the recovery of acuity of the deprived eye. Occlusion of the fellow eye for even a day immediately following the period spent in darkness blocked any recovery of the acuity of the deprived eye. Moreover, occlusion of the fellow eye two days after the period of darkness blocked any further visual recovery beyond that achieved in the short period when both eyes were open. The results imply that the darkness-induced recovery of the acuity of the deprived ey...
Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 1981
The relative effect of short daily periods of reverse occlusion in promoting recovery from the physiological effect of monocular deprivation in kittens were examined with a view to identifying a neurophysiological basis for the visual improvement observed with minimum occlusion therapy in amblyopia. Kittens were monocularly deprived from near birth until 5 weeks of age, at which time they were reverse-sutured and housed in total darkness. Each kitten received a short period of visual exposure through its initially deprived eye each day for either a fixed number of days or for a constant total visual exposure spread over a different number of exposure sessions. Electrophysiological recordings from single cells in the visual cortex were made the day after the last visual exposure. Kittens that received daily periods of reverse occlusion as brief as 30 min for 20 days showed a substantial degree of reversal of cortical ocular dominance. Other experiments indicated that 20 hr of reverse...