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Axonal sprouting accompanies functional reorganization in adult cat striate cortex

Nature volume 368, pages 737–740 (1994)Cite this article

Abstract

REMOVAL of sensory input from a focal region of adult neocortex can lead to a large reorganization of cortical topography within the deprived area during subsequent months1–9. Although this form of functional recovery is now well documented across several sensory systems, the underlying cellular mechanisms remain elusive. Weeks after binocular retinal lesions silence a corresponding portion of striate cortex in the adult cat, this cortex again becomes responsive, this time to retinal loci immediately outside the scotoma. Earlier findings showed a lack of reorganization in the lateral geniculate nucleus and an inadequate spread of geniculo-cortical afferents to account for the cortical reorganization, suggesting the involvement of intrinsic cortical connections4,10. We investigated the possibility that intracortical axonal sprouting mediates long-term reorganization of cortical functional architecture. The anterograde label biocytin was used to compare the density of lateral projections into reorganized and non-deprived cortex. We report here that structural changes in the form of axonal sprouting of long-range laterally projecting neurons accompany topographic remodelling of the visual cortex.

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  1. Charles D. Gilbert: To whom correspondence should be addressed

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  1. The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York, 10021-16399, USA

    Corinna Darian-Smith & Charles D. Gilbert

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  1. Corinna Darian-Smith
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Darian-Smith, C., Gilbert, C. Axonal sprouting accompanies functional reorganization in adult cat striate cortex. Nature 368, 737–740 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/368737a0

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