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Development

Making eye contact

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 2, pages 3–4 (2001)Cite this article

In order to study the effects of imbalances in retinal activity on early column development, one eye was removed between P7 and P14, then anterograde labelling was performed 3 days before killing the animals at P17–P21. This resulted in unbalanced retinal activity for 4–14 days during what was now established as the early stage of column establishment. It was found that normal column structures were still formed in these animals, and both eyes were still equally represented in the cortex.

It was concluded that the initial establishment of the ocular dominance columns is able to proceed independently of visual stimulus from the retina. Changes in retinal activity during the critical period are therefore likely to refine or disrupt an existing pattern, rather than establish a new one. This work opens up a new field of investigation to identify the intrinsic molecular guidance cues that are required for the patterning of the visual cortex.

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Crowley, J. C. & Katz, L. C. Early development of ocular dominance columns. Science 290, 1321–1324 ( 2000)

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FURTHER READING

  1. Crowley, J.C & Katz, L. C. Development of ocular dominance columns in the absence of retinal input. Nature Neurosci. 2, 1125–1130 (1999)

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  2. Shatz, C. J. Emergence of order in visual system development. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 93, 602–608 ( 1996)

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Authors
  1. Heather Wood
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Lawrence C. Katz

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIFE SCIENCES

Visual system development in vertebrates

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Wood, H. Making eye contact. Nat Rev Neurosci 2, 3–4 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35049000

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