Simulation of plasticity in the adult visual cortex

Item Type:	Article
Title:	Simulation of plasticity in the adult visual cortex
Creators Name:	Andrade-Navarro, M.A. and Muro, E.M. and Moran, F.
Abstract:	Retinal plasticity has been shown in the adult visual nervous system in mammals. Following a retinal lesion (scotoma) there is a reorganization of the cortical receptive field distribution: cortical neurons selective to visual stimuli in the area of the visual field corresponding to the retinal lesion, become selective to other parts of the visual field. In this work, we study this effect with a self-organizing neural network. In a first stage, the network reaches a pattern of connectivity that represents normal development of neuronal selectivity. The scotoma is simulated by perturbing accordingly the properties of a region of the input layer representing the retina. The system evolves to a new receptive field distribution mainly by means of the reorganization of the intra cortical connectivity. No major change of the geniculo cortical connectivity is detected. This may explain the surprisingly short time scale of the event.
Keywords:	Age Factors, Computer Simulation, Mammals, Neurological Models, Neuronal Plasticity, Scotoma, Visual Cortex, Visual Fields, Animals
Source:	Biological Cybernetics
ISSN:	0340-1200
Publisher:	Springer
Volume:	84
Number:	6
Page Range:	445-451
Date:	May 2001
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00007988
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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