Zheng Jing, Zhang Wenqiu, Liu Longqian, Hung Yap Maurice Keng
Department of Ophthalmology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Department of Optometry and Visual Science, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Front Neurosci. 2023 Jan 19;17:1109735. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1109735. eCollection 2023.
The decline of visual plasticity restricts the recovery of visual functions in adult amblyopia. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been shown to be effective in treating adult amblyopia. However, the underlying mechanisms of rTMS on visual cortex plasticity remain unclear. In this study, we found that low-frequency rTMS reinstated the amplitude of visual evoked potentials, but did not influence the impaired depth perception of amblyopic rats. Furthermore, the expression of synaptic plasticity genes and the number of dendritic spines were significantly higher in amblyopic rats which received rTMS when compared with amblyopic rats which received sham stimulation, with reduced level of inhibition and perineuronal nets in visual cortex, as observed molecular and histological investigations. The results provide further evidence that rTMS enhances functional recovery and visual plasticity in an adult amblyopic animal model.
视觉可塑性的下降限制了成人弱视视觉功能的恢复。重复经颅磁刺激（rTMS）已被证明对治疗成人弱视有效。然而，rTMS对视觉皮层可塑性的潜在机制仍不清楚。在本研究中，我们发现低频rTMS恢复了视觉诱发电位的振幅，但不影响弱视大鼠受损的深度知觉。此外，与接受假刺激的弱视大鼠相比，接受rTMS的弱视大鼠突触可塑性基因的表达和树突棘的数量显著更高，分子和组织学研究观察到视觉皮层的抑制水平和神经元周围网络减少。这些结果进一步证明，rTMS可增强成年弱视动物模型的功能恢复和视觉可塑性。
