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Retinal lesions induce fast intrinsic cortical plasticity in adult mouse visual system
Author(s) -
Smolders Katrien,
Vreysen Samme,
Laramée MarieEve,
Cuyvers Annemie,
Hu TjingTjing,
Van Brussel Leen,
Eysel Ulf T.,
Nys Julie,
Arckens Lutgarde
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/ejn.13143
Subject(s) - neuroscience , visual cortex , retinotopy , superior colliculus , monocular deprivation , extrastriate cortex , lesion , retinal , biology , neuroplasticity , visual field , cortex (anatomy) , medicine , ocular dominance , pathology , biochemistry
Neuronal activity plays an important role in the development and structural–functional maintenance of the brain as well as in its life‐long plastic response to changes in sensory stimulation. We characterized the impact of unilateral 15° laser lesions in the temporal lower visual field of the retina, on visually driven neuronal activity in the afferent visual pathway of adult mice using in situ hybridization for the activity reporter gene zif268 . In the first days post‐lesion, we detected a discrete zone of reduced zif268 expression in the contralateral hemisphere, spanning the border between the monocular segment of the primary visual cortex (V1) with extrastriate visual area V2M. We could not detect a clear lesion projection zone ( LPZ ) in areas lateral to V1 whereas medial to V2M, agranular and granular retrosplenial cortex showed decreased zif268 levels over their full extent. All affected areas displayed a return to normal zif268 levels, and this was faster in higher order visual areas than in V1. The lesion did, however, induce a permanent LPZ in the retinorecipient layers of the superior colliculus. We identified a retinotopy‐based intrinsic capacity of adult mouse visual cortex to recover from restricted vision loss, with recovery speed reflecting the areal cortical magnification factor. Our observations predict incomplete visual field representations for areas lateral to V1 vs. lack of retinotopic organization for areas medial to V2M. The validation of this mouse model paves the way for future interrogations of cortical region‐ and cell‐type‐specific contributions to functional recovery, up to microcircuit level.