Dark-reared kittens: GABA sensitivity of cells in the visual cortex

Abstract

Most cells in the visual cortex of dark-reared kittens are unselective for stimulus orientation and we examined the notion that this might be due to insufficiently developed gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors. We recorded from cortical neurons and examined their sensitivity to iontophoretically applied GABA. As expected, most units were non-selective for orientation, but application of GABA suppressed impulse activity of these cells just as for orientation selective neurons. This result suggests that the development or maintenance of GABA receptors is not critically dependent on visual experience.