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bioRxiv · 10.1101/761395

Experience-dependent reorganization drives the development of a binocularly unified representation of orientation in ferret visual cortex

Whitney, D. E.·Chang, J. T.·Fitzpatrick, D.
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Abstract

Across sensory areas, neural microcircuits consolidate diverse streams of information into unified, representations of the external world. In the carnivore visual cortex, where eye-specific inputs converge, it has been posited that a single, shared columnar representation of orientation develops independent of sensory experience. In this study, in vivo calcium imaging with columnar and cellular resolution reveals a strikingly different developmental process in ferret visual cortex, starting with an early developmental period in which contralateral, ipsilateral or binocular stimulation each yield distinct well-organized representations of orientation that are misaligned at the columnar and cellular scale. Experience-dependent processes drive the reorganization of these three representations towards a single binocularly-aligned representation resembling the early binocular representation through concerted shifts in the preferred orientation of individual neurons. Thus, contrary to previous findings, a unified binocular representation of orientation results from an experience-dependent process that aligns the activity patterns of three distinct neural representations.

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Whitney, D. E., Chang, J. T., Fitzpatrick, D.. 2019-09-08. Experience-dependent reorganization drives the development of a binocularly unified representation of orientation in ferret visual cortex. https://doi.org/10.1101/761395

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