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Effect of visual deprivation on neurotransmitter receptor development in the rat visual system

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Abstract

The effect of monocular deprivation (covering one eye on the 11th posnatal day) and rearing in darkness (the animals were born, developed, and killed with total exclusion of light) on development of β-adrenergic, serotoninergic, muscarinic cholinergic, glutamatergic, and benzodiazepine receptors in primary visual structures (visual cortex, lateral geniculate body, superior colliculus, and retina) was investigated in rats. For quantitative analysis of neurotransmitter receptors, the technique of ligand binding was used. It was shown that monocular deprivation affects the development of β-adrenergic, serotoninergic, and glutaminergic receptors mainly in the lateral geniculate body and retina, whereas rearing in darkness affects mainly the development of serotoninergic receptors in the superior colliculus. The development of receptors of the cholinergic neurotransmitter system is disturbed only temporarily by visual deprivation. Changes found in receptor development after visual deprivation indicate altered activity of different neurotransmitter systems in corresponding visual structures.

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Authors
  1. D. Biesold
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  2. R. Schliebs
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  3. T. Rothe
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  4. M. Aurich
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  5. E. Ungewitter
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  6. V. Bigl
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Additional information

P. Flechsig Brain Research Institute, Leipzig, East Germany. Karl Marx University, Leipzig, East Germany. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 691–701, September–October, 1984.

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Biesold, D., Schliebs, R., Rothe, T. et al. Effect of visual deprivation on neurotransmitter receptor development in the rat visual system. Neurophysiology 16, 529–538 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052708

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052708

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