[Noradrenaline and plasticity of the visual cortex of the kitten: a reexamination].

We have undertaken a study of the role of the noradrenergic system in the functional modifications, observed in the primary visual cortex of the Kitten, following monocular deprivation. The lids of one eye were sutured in 5 week old Kittens for a period of 1 or 2 weeks. Noradrenergic depletion was obtained by 6-OHDA injection, either intraventricular or localized in the coeruleus complex. Our results indicate that disappearance of noradrenaline in area 17 does not prevent the loss of binocularity of cortical cells, but appears to limit ocular dominance shifts at a stage equivalent to that observed in the intact Kitten after 6 days of monocular deprivation.