The receptive fields of neurons in primary visual cortex that are inactivated by retinal damage are known to 'shift' to nondamaged retinal locations, seemingly due to the plasticity of intracortical connections. We have observed in cats that these shifts occur in a pattern that is highly convergent, even among receptive fields that are separated by large distances before inactivation. Here we show, using a computational model of primary visual cortex, that the observed convergent shifts are inconsistent with the common assumption that the underlying intracortical connection plasticity is dependent on the temporal correlation of pre- and postsynaptic action potentials. The shifts are, however, consistent with the hypothesis that this plasticity is dependent on the temporal order of pre- and postsynaptic action potentials. This convergent reorganization seems to require increased neuronal gain, revealing a mechanism that networks may use to selectively facilitate the didactic transfer of neuronal response properties. © 2007 Nature Publishing Group.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	animal experiment; article; brain cortex; correlation analysis; mathematical computing; nerve cell; nerve cell plasticity; nonhuman; postsynaptic potential; presynaptic potential; priority journal; spike wave; visual cortex; Algorithms
Research Division:	Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Research Group:	Neurosciences
Research Field:	Neurology and neuromuscular diseases
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Clinical health
Objective Field:	Clinical health not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Calford, MB (Professor Mike Calford)
ID Code:	91306
Year Published:	2007
Web of Science® Times Cited:	64
Deposited By:	Research Division
Deposited On:	2014-05-13
Last Modified:	2014-05-13
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