Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T02:22:07.940Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Development of inhibitory mechanisms in the kitten's visual cortex

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Eric S. Green
Affiliation:
Group in Neurobiology, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley
Gregory C. DeAngelis
Affiliation:
Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, Palo Alto
Ralph D. Freeman
Affiliation:
Group in Neurobiology, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the maturity of three inhibitory mechanisms (end-inhibition, side-inhibition, and cross-orientation inhibition) in the striate cortex of kittens at 4 weeks postnatal. To accomplish this, we made extracellular recordings from area 17 neurons while presenting visual stimuli consisting of sinusoidal luminance gratings or composites of gratings. We then compared data from kittens relating to various characteristics of each inhibitory mechanism with data from adults. We find that end-inhibition, side-inhibition, and cross-orientation inhibition are all present in kittens, and all show signs of maturity by 4 weeks postnatal. We conclude that the development of these inhibitory mechanisms occurs relatively early, and may coincide with the development of excitatory properties.

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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

Albus, K. & Wolf, W. (1984). Early post-natal development of neuronal function in the kitten's visual cortex: A laminar analysis. Journal of Physiology 348, 153185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benevento, L.A., Creutzfeldt, O.D. & Kuhnt, U. (1972). Significance of intracortical inhibition in the visual cortex. Nature: New Biology 238, 124126.Google ScholarPubMed
Bodis-Wollner, I., Brannan, J.R., Ghilardi, M.F. & Mylin, L.H. (1990). The importance of physiology to visual evoked potentials. In Visual Evoked Potentials, ed. Desmedt, J.E., pp. 124. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Bonds, A.B. (1979). Development of orientation tuning in the visual cortex of kittens. In Developmental Neurobiology of Vision, ed. Freeman, R.D., pp. 3141. New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonds, A.B. (1989). Role of inhibition in the specification of orientation selectivity of cells in the cat striate cortex. Visual Neuroscience 2, 4155.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Born, R.T. & Tootell, R.B. (1991). Single-unit and 2-deoxyglucose studies of side inhibition in macaque striate cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 88, 70717075.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braastad, B.O. & Heggelund, P. (1985). Development of spatial receptive-field organization and orientation selectivity in kitten striate cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 53, 11581178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cragg, B.G. (1975). The development of synapses in the visual system of the cat. Journal of Comparative Neurology 160, 147166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeAngelis, G.C., Robson, J.G., Ohzawa, I. & Freeman, R.D. (1992). Organization of suppression in receptive fields of neurons in cat visual cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 68, 144163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeAngelis, G.C., Ohzawa, I. & Freeman, R.D. (1993). Spatiotemporal organization of simple-cell receptive fields in the cat's striate cortex. 1. General characteristics and postnatal development. Journal of Neurophysiology 69, 10911117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeAngelis, G.C., Freeman, R.D. & Ohzawa, I. (1994). Length and width tuning of neurons in the cat's primary visual cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 71, 347374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Derrington, A.M. & Fuchs, A.F. (1981). The development of spatial-frequency selectivity in kitten striate cortex. Journal of Physiology (London) 316, 110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Valois, R.L., Thorell, L.G. & Albrecht, D.G. (1985). Periodicity of striate-cortex-cell receptive fields. Journal of the Optical Society of America A 2, 11151123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freeman, R.D. & Ohzawa, I. (1992). Development of binocular vision in the kitten's striate cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 12, 47214736.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levick, W.R. (1972). Another tungsten microelectrode. Medical and Biological Engineering 10, 510515.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mitchell, D.E. & Timney, B. (1984). Post-natal development of function in the mammalian visual system. In Handbook of Physiology: Nervous System, Vol. III, ed. Darion-Smith, I., pp. 507555. Bethesda, Maryland: American Physiology Society.Google Scholar
Morrone, M.C., Burr, D.C. & Maffei, L. (1982). Functional implications of cross-orientation inhibition of cortical visual cells. Proceedings of the Royal Society B (London) 216, 335354.Google ScholarPubMed
Morrone, M.C., Speed, H.D. & Burr, D.C. (1991). Development of visual inhibitory interactions in kittens. Visual Neuroscience 1, 321334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orban, G.A., Kato, H. & Bishop, P.O. (1979). End-zone region in receptive fields of hypercomplex and other striate neurons in the cat. Journal of Neurophysiology 42, 818832.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pelli, D.G. & Zhang, L. (1991). Accurate control of contrast on microcomputer displays. Vision Research 31, 13371350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skottun, B.C., De Valois, R.L., Grosof, D.H., Movshon, J.A., Albrecht, D.G., & Bonds, A.B. (1991). Classifying simple and complex cells on the basis of response modulation. Vision Research 31, 10791086.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tsumoto, T. & Sato, H. (1985). GABAergic inhibition and orientation selectivity of neurons in the kitten visual cortex at the time of eye opening. Vision Research 25, 383388.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Winfield, D.A. (1981). The postnatal development of synapses in the visual cortex of the cat and the effects of eyelid closure. Brain Research 206, 166171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolf, W., Hicks, T.P. & Albus, K. (1986). The contribution of GABA-mediated inhibitory mechanisms to visual response properties of neurons in the kitten's striate cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 6, 27792795.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed