Synchrony between orientation-selective neurons is modulated during adaptation-induced plasticity in cat visual cortex

2008

Neurons in Cat Visual Cortex Change Synchrony During Adaptation

Sample size: 78 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Ghisovan Narcis, Nemri Abdellatif, Shumikhina Svetlana, Molotchnikoff Stephane

Primary Institution: University of Montreal

Hypothesis

How does adaptation affect the synchrony between orientation-selective neurons in the cat visual cortex?

Conclusion

The study found that synchrony between neurons increases when their preferred orientation difference decreases after adaptation.

Supporting Evidence

Prolonged exposure to a non-preferred stimulus led to attractive shifts in orientation preference for 58% of neurons.
Synchronization increased significantly when the preferred orientation difference between neuron pairs decreased.
Recovery of initial synchrony levels occurred within 60 minutes after adaptation.

Takeaway

When cats' visual neurons are shown a non-preferred image for a long time, they start to work together better, especially if they start to prefer the same orientation.

Methodology

Multi-unit activity was recorded from area 17 of anesthetized adult cats, measuring orientation tuning curves and pairwise synchrony before and after adaptation.