The Corpus Callosum and the Visual Cortex: Plasticity Is a Game for Two
Figure 1
Silencing callosal input during the early critical period impairs maturation of visual acuity. (a) Schematics of the experimental protocol. BoNT/E was unilaterally injected into the visual cortex in P14 rat pups to cause a prolonged silencing of one hemisphere. The contralateral, uninjected side has a normal visual experience through the retinogeniculate pathway and only lacks callosal input activity. (b) Bilateral impairments in visual acuity at P35 after unilateral injection of BoNT/E at P14: summary of visual acuities in naïve rats (NOR), rats injected with vehicle (VEHICLE) and in the hemisphere ipsilateral (IPSI) and contralateral (CONTRA) to BoNT/E infusion. Each circle represents one animal. Mean visual acuity (diamonds) is significantly reduced in both hemispheres of BoNT/E rats in comparison with that in normal or vehicle-injected animals. Error bars indicate SE. Data are from [54].
