Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T07:03:31.671Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of brief monocular deprivation on binocular depth perception in the cat: A sensitive period for the loss of stereopsis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Brian Timney
Brian Timney
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaN6A 5C2
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The period of susceptibility for binocular depth vision was studied in kittens by subjecting them to periods of monocular deprivation beginning at different ages. In an initial study, we found that normally reared kittens can learn a depth-discrimination task much more rapidly when tested binocularly than monocularly, even when testing is begun as early at 30 d. In subsequent experiments, kittens were monocularly deprived by eyelid suture, following which their monocular and binocular depth thresholds were measured using the jumping-stand procedure. We obtained the following results: (1) When monocular deprivation is applied before the time of natural eye opening but is discontinued by no later than 30 d, there is very Little effect on binocular depth thresholds. (2) When deprivation is begun at 90 d, binocular depth thresholds are unaffected. (3) When deprivation is begun between these two ages, the magnitude of the deficit varies with the period of deprivation and the age at which it begins. (4) By imposing brief (5 or 10 d) periods of deprivation, beginning at different ages, we were able to demonstrate that the peak of the sensitive period is between the ages of 35 and 45 d, with a fairly rapid decline in susceptibility outside those age limits. (5) Even with as little as 5 d of deprivation, substantial permanent deficits in binocular depth vision can be induced.

Keywords

CatMonocular deprivationSensitive periodStereopsis
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , September 1990 , pp. 273 - 280
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aslin, R.N. (1981). Experiential influences and sensitive periods in perceptual development: a unified model. In Development of Perception: Psychobiological Perspectives, Vol. II, The Visual System, ed. Aslin, R.N., Alberts, J.R. & Petersen, M.R., pp. 45–93. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blakemore, C. (1979). The development of stereoscopic mechanisms in the visual cortex of the act. Proceedings of the Royal Society B (London) 204, 477–484.Google Scholar
Blakemore, C. & Van, Sluytrs R.C. (1974). Experimental analysis of amblyopia and strabismus. British Journal of Ophthalmology 58, 176–182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crawford, M.L.J., Von, Noorden G.K., Meharg, L.S., Rhodes, J.W., Hawrth, R.S., Smith, E.L. III & Miller, D.D. (1983). Binocular neurons and binocular function in monkeys and children. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 24, 491–495.Google ScholarPubMed
Cynader, M., Berman, N. & Hein, A. (1976). Recovery of function in cat visual cortex following prolonged deprivation. Experimental Brain Research 25, 139–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Finney, D.J. (1971). Probit Analysis (3rd edition). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Freeman, R.D. & Ohzawa, I. (1986). Binocular interaction in young kittens. Society for Neurosciences Abstracts 12, 784.Google Scholar
Freeman, Y. & Imbert, M. (1984). Development of neuronal selectivity in primary visual cortex of the cat. Physiological Reviews 64, 325–433.Google Scholar
Giffin, F. & Mitchell, D.E. (1978). The rate of recovery of vision after monocular deprivation in kittens. Journal of Physiology 274, 511–537.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Held, R., Birch, E.E. & Gwiazda, J. (1980) Stereoacuity of human infants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (New York) 77, 5572–5574.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirsch, H.V.B. (1985). The tunable seer: activity dependent development of vision. In Handbook of Behavioral Neurobiology; ed. Blass, E.M., pp. 237–295. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Howard, H.J. (1919). A test for the judgment of distance. American Journal of Ophthalmology 2, 656–675.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaye, M., Mitchell, D.E. & Cynader, M. (1982). Depth perception, eye alignment, and cortical ocular dominance of dark-reared cats. Development Brain Research 2, 37–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malach, R., Ebert, R. & Van Sluyters, R.C. (1984). Recovery from the effects of brief monocular deprivation in the kitten. Journal of Neurophysiology 51, 538–551.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mitchell, D.E. (1988). The extent of visual recovery from early monocular or binocular deprivation in kittens. Journal of Physiology 395, 639–660.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mitchell, D.E., Kaye, M. & Timney, B. (1979). Assessment of depth perception in cats. Perception 8, 389–396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mitchell, D.E. & Timney, B. (1984). Postnatal development of function in the mammalian visual system. In Handbook of Physiology: The Nervous System: Vol. 3. Sensory Processes (Part I), ed. Darian-Smith, I., pp. 507–555. Bethesda, Maryland: The American Physiological Society.Google Scholar
Olson, C.R. & Freeman, R.D. (1980). Profile of the sensitive period for monocular deprivation in kittens. Experimental Brain Research 39, 17–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pettigrew, J.D. (1974). The effect of visual experience on the development of stimulus specificity by kitten cortical neurones. Journal of Physiology 237, 49–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pettigrew, J.D. (1978). The paradox of the critical period for striate cortex. In Neuronal Plasticity, ed. Cotman, C.W., pp. 311–330. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Timney, B. (1981). Development of binocular depth perception in kittens. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 21, 493–496.Google ScholarPubMed
Timney, B. (1983). The effects of early and late monocular deprivation on binocular depth perception in cats. Developmental Brain Research 7, 235–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timney, B (1985). Visual experience and the development of depth perception. In Brain Mechanisms and Spatial Vision, ed. Ingle, D.J., Jeannerod, M.J. & Lee, D.N., pp. 147–174. The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timney, B. (1988). The development of depth perception. In Advances in Neural and Behavioral Development, Vol. 3, ed. Shinkman, P.G., pp. 153–208. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.Google Scholar
Von, Grunau M.W. (1979). The role of maturation and visual experience in the development of eye alignment in cats. Experimental Brain Research 37, 41–47.Google Scholar
Walk, R.D. (1965). The study of visual depth and distance perception in animals. In Advances in the Study of Behavior, ed. Lehrman, D.S., Hinde, R.A. & Shaw, E., pp. 99–154. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walk, R.D. (1966). The development of depth perception in animals and human infants. Society for Research in Child Development Monographs 31, 82–108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed