Summary
The functional organization of visual cortical cells was studied in two groups of five week old kittens: one group normally reared, the other reared in total darkness from the third day after birth. The following results were obtained:
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1.
The cells of the normally reared kittens were similar to adult cells except for some aspects of immaturity. In contrast, the cells of the dark-reared kittens were totally non-specific. Their receptive field showed neither orientational nor directional properties.
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2.
The distribution of cells according to the ocular dominance was not different in either group and was similar to that previously described for ‘adult’ cells.
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3.
A few hours of visual experience was sufficient to provide specific receptive field properties to the cortical cells of a dark-reared kitten.
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4.
Conditioning exposure with an oriented grating induced changes in orientational sensitivity in normally reared kittens but not in dark-reared kittens.
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With the technical assistance of Paullette Saillour.
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Imbert, M., Buisseret, P. Receptive field characteristics and plastic properties of visual cortical cells in kittens reared with or without visual experience. Exp Brain Res 22, 25–36 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235409
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235409