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Experience-dependent recovery of vision following chronic deprivation amblyopia

Nature Neuroscience volume 10, pages 1134–1136 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The shift in ocular dominance induced by brief monocular deprivation is greatest during a postnatal critical period and is thought to decline irreversibly thereafter. However, here we demonstrate that complete visual deprivation through dark exposure restores rapid ocular dominance plasticity in adult rats. In addition, the loss of visual acuity resulting from chronic monocular deprivation is reversed if dark exposure precedes removal of the occlusion in adulthood, suggesting a potential use for dark exposure in the treatment of adult amblyopia.

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Figure 1: Dark exposure in adulthood reactivated rapid ocular dominance plasticity.
Figure 2: Dark exposure in adulthood allowed the recovery of spatial acuity following chronic MD.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank H.K. Lee, R. Araneda and members of the Quinlan lab for critical comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by US National Institutes of Health Grant EY13818 (E.M.Q.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, 1210 Biology/Psychology Building no. 144, University of Maryland, College Park, 20742, Maryland, USA

    Hai-Yan He, Katie Dennis & Elizabeth M Quinlan

  2. Department of Neuroscience and Cognitive Sciences Program, 1210 Biology/Psychology Building no. 144, University of Maryland, College Park, 20742, Maryland, USA

    Baisali Ray & Elizabeth M Quinlan

Authors
  1. Hai-Yan He
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  2. Baisali Ray
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  3. Katie Dennis
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  4. Elizabeth M Quinlan
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Contributions

H.-Y.H. conducted the VEP experiments, analyzed the VEP data and contributed to writing of the manuscript. B.R. and K.D. conducted the behavioral experiments and analyzed the behavioral data. E.M.Q. wrote the manuscript and supervised the project.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth M Quinlan.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Supplementary Figures 1–3, Methods (PDF 1955 kb)

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He, HY., Ray, B., Dennis, K. et al. Experience-dependent recovery of vision following chronic deprivation amblyopia. Nat Neurosci 10, 1134–1136 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1965

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