Skip to main content

Umbrella menu

  • SfN.org
  • eNeuro
  • The Journal of Neuroscience
  • Neuronline
  • BrainFacts.org

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Preparing a Manuscript
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Fees
    • Journal Club
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
  • SfN.org
  • eNeuro
  • The Journal of Neuroscience
  • Neuronline
  • BrainFacts.org

User menu

  • Log in
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log in
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Preparing a Manuscript
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Fees
    • Journal Club
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
PreviousNext
Articles

Cellular analogs of visual cortical epigenesis. I. Plasticity of orientation selectivity

Y Fregnac, D Shulz, S Thorpe and E Bienenstock
Journal of Neuroscience 1 April 1992, 12 (4) 1280-1300; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.12-04-01280.1992
Y Fregnac
Laboratoire de Neurobiologie et Neuropharmacologie du Developpement, Universite Paris XI, Orsay, France.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
D Shulz
Laboratoire de Neurobiologie et Neuropharmacologie du Developpement, Universite Paris XI, Orsay, France.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
S Thorpe
Laboratoire de Neurobiologie et Neuropharmacologie du Developpement, Universite Paris XI, Orsay, France.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
E Bienenstock
Laboratoire de Neurobiologie et Neuropharmacologie du Developpement, Universite Paris XI, Orsay, France.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

A differential pairing procedure was applied in vivo to individual neurons in the primary visual cortex of anesthetized paralyzed cats, in order to produce changes in their relative orientation preference. While we recorded from a single cell, its visual response to a light bar was driven iontophoretically to a “high” level when stimulating with an initially nonpreferred orientation (S+), and alternately reduced to a “low” level when stimulating with the preferred orientation (S). This associative procedure was devised to test the possible role of neuronal coactivity in controlling the plasticity of orientation selectivity. Among 87 cells tested, 35 (40%) showed significant long-lasting changes, either in the relative orientation preference for the two “paired” stimuli S+ and S-, in the global orientation tuning profile, or in both. Measurements of relative orientation preference demonstrated significant effects in 27 cells (31%), all in favor of the positively reinforced orientation (S+). Modifications of orientation selectivity (studied over the entire orientation spectrum in 45 of the conditioned cells) usually consisted (21 out of 25 modified cells) of a competitive reorganization of the orientation tuning curve: the preferred orientation shifted toward S+, and a loss of relative visual responsiveness was observed for orientations close to the negatively reinforced orientation (S-). The largest changes were found in deprived kittens at the peak of the critical period, although the probability of inducing a significant change studied during the first year of postnatal life was independent of age. These functional modifications demonstrated at the cellular level are analogous to those induced by a global manipulation of the visual environment, when only a restricted spectrum of orientations is experienced during the critical period. Our results support the hypothesis that covariance levels between pre- and postsynaptic activity determine the sign and the amplitude of the modification of efficacy of cortical synapses.

Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Neuroscience: 12 (4)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 12, Issue 4
1 Apr 1992
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Neuroscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Cellular analogs of visual cortical epigenesis. I. Plasticity of orientation selectivity
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Neuroscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Neuroscience.
View Full Page PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation Tools
Cellular analogs of visual cortical epigenesis. I. Plasticity of orientation selectivity
Y Fregnac, D Shulz, S Thorpe, E Bienenstock
Journal of Neuroscience 1 April 1992, 12 (4) 1280-1300; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.12-04-01280.1992

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Request Permissions
Share
Cellular analogs of visual cortical epigenesis. I. Plasticity of orientation selectivity
Y Fregnac, D Shulz, S Thorpe, E Bienenstock
Journal of Neuroscience 1 April 1992, 12 (4) 1280-1300; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.12-04-01280.1992
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Responses to this article

Respond to this article

Jump to comment:

No eLetters have been published for this article.

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

  • Choice Behavior Guided by Learned, But Not Innate, Taste Aversion Recruits the Orbitofrontal Cortex
  • Maturation of Spontaneous Firing Properties after Hearing Onset in Rat Auditory Nerve Fibers: Spontaneous Rates, Refractoriness, and Interfiber Correlations
  • Insulin Treatment Prevents Neuroinflammation and Neuronal Injury with Restored Neurobehavioral Function in Models of HIV/AIDS Neurodegeneration
Show more Articles
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Facebook
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on Twitter
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on LinkedIn
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Youtube
  • Follow our RSS feeds

Content

  • Early Release
  • Current Issue
  • Issue Archive
  • Collections

Information

  • For Authors
  • For Advertisers
  • For the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Feedback
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2019 by the Society for Neuroscience.

JNeurosci   Print ISSN: 0270-6474   Online ISSN: 1529-2401