Reversal of the morphological effects of monocular deprivation in the kittens's lateral geniculate nucleus

Abstract

1. Eleven kittens were deprived of vision in one eye until the age of between 5 and 14 weeks. Their eyes were then reverse-sutured, they were allowed to survive for a further 3-63 days, and their brains were then examined histologically. 2. Measurement of the cross-sectional area of cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) showed that when the reversal of lid suture was performed at the age of 8 or 14 weeks, the mean cell size was smaller in laminae connected to the initially closed right eye than it was in other laminae. 3. When the reversal of lid suture took place at 5 or 6 weeks of age there was a reversal of interlaminar size differences: the initially deprived eye was then connected to laminae containing larger cells. Even within 3 days after the reversal of lid suture, most of the morphological effects of the initial suture had been abolished, and they were fully reversed within 12 days. 4. These results are compared with physiological changes in the visual cortex of these and similarly reared animals.