Rauschecker J P
Hum Neurobiol. 1984;3(2):109-14.
During early postnatal development various response properties of single neurones can be changed in the cat's visual system. These modifications must be based on changes of synaptic efficacy and depend on neuronal activity. Rearing kittens with artificial astigmatism creates meridional amblyopia demonstrable on different levels of investigation. Characteristic interdependencies of ocular dominance and orientation preference in visual cortex can be generated that demonstrate that synaptic changes involve a postsynaptic gating mechanism. The same conclusion can be drawn from the results of monocular strobe rearing, which has differential effects on cells in different cortical laminae. Connectivity changes can be induced by rather brief stimulation, but need time for consolidation, as can be shown by reverse occlusion experiments. Deprivation effects may also act across sensory modality borders: auditory neurones in superior colliculus are found much more frequently after visual deprivation. Judging from the number of bimodal cells, synaptic competition may be less powerful here than in visual cortex.
在出生后的早期发育阶段，猫视觉系统中单个神经元的各种反应特性会发生变化。这些改变必定基于突触效能的变化，并依赖于神经元活动。用人工散光饲养小猫会导致子午线性弱视，这在不同的研究层面都可得到证实。视觉皮层中眼优势和方向偏好之间会产生特定的相互依存关系，这表明突触变化涉及一种突触后门控机制。单眼频闪饲养的结果也能得出相同结论，该方法对不同皮层层的细胞有不同影响。相当短暂的刺激就能诱导连接性变化，但这种变化需要时间来巩固，反向遮盖实验就能证明这一点。剥夺效应也可能跨越感觉模态边界起作用：视觉剥夺后，上丘中的听觉神经元出现的频率会更高。从双峰细胞的数量判断，这里的突触竞争可能不如视觉皮层中那么强烈。
