Department of Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
J Neurophysiol. 2011 Aug;106(2):895-904. doi: 10.1152/jn.01046.2010. Epub 2011 May 25.
Development of the mammalian visual system is not complete at birth but continues postnatally well after eye opening. Although numerous studies have revealed changes in the development of the thalamus and visual cortex during this time, less is known about the development of response properties of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Here, we mapped functional receptive fields of mouse RGCs using a Gaussian white noise checkerboard stimulus and a multielectrode array to record from retinas at eye opening, 3 days later, and 4 wk after birth, when visual responses are essentially mature. Over this time, the receptive field center size of ON and OFF RGC populations decreased. The average receptive field center size of ON RGCs was larger than that of OFF RGCs at eye opening, but they decreased to the same size in the adult. Firing properties were also immature at eye opening. RGCs had longer latencies, lower frequencies of firing, and lower sensitivity than in the adult. Hence, the dramatic maturation of the visual system during the first weeks of visual experience includes the retina.
哺乳动物的视觉系统在出生时并未完全发育成熟，而是在眼睛睁开后继续发育很长一段时间。虽然许多研究揭示了丘脑和视皮层在这段时间的发育变化，但对于视网膜神经节细胞（RGC）反应特性的发育了解较少。在这里，我们使用高斯白噪声棋盘刺激和多电极阵列来绘制小鼠 RGC 的功能感受野，以记录眼睛睁开时、3 天后和出生后 4 周的视网膜，此时视觉反应基本成熟。在此期间，ON 和 OFF RGC 群体的感受野中心大小减小。在眼睛睁开时，ON 和 OFF RGC 的平均感受野中心大小不同，ON RGC 比 OFF RGC 大，但它们在成年时减小到相同的大小。在眼睛睁开时，放电特性也不成熟。与成年相比，RGC 的潜伏期更长，放电频率更低，敏感性更低。因此，在视觉体验的最初几周内，视觉系统的急剧成熟包括视网膜。
