Visual Map Shifts based on Whisker-Guided Cues in the Young Mouse Visual Cortex
Kohei Yoshitake,
Hiroaki Tsukano,
Manavu Tohmi,
Seiji Komagata,
Ryuichi Hishida,
Takeshi Yagi,
Katsuei Shibuki
Affiliations
Kohei Yoshitake
Department of Neurophysiology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 1-757 Asahi-machi, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8585, Japan
Hiroaki Tsukano
Department of Neurophysiology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 1-757 Asahi-machi, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8585, Japan
Manavu Tohmi
Department of Neurophysiology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 1-757 Asahi-machi, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8585, Japan
Seiji Komagata
Department of Neurophysiology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 1-757 Asahi-machi, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8585, Japan
Ryuichi Hishida
Department of Neurophysiology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 1-757 Asahi-machi, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8585, Japan
Takeshi Yagi
KOKORO-Biology Group, Laboratories for Integrated Biology, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Katsuei Shibuki
Department of Neurophysiology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 1-757 Asahi-machi, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8585, Japan
Mice navigate nearby space using their vision and whiskers, and young mice learn to integrate these heterogeneous inputs in perceptual space. We found that cortical responses were depressed in the primary visual cortex of young mice after wearing a monocular prism. This depression was uniformly observed in the primary visual cortex and was eliminated by whisker trimming or lesions in the posterior parietal cortex. Compensatory visual map shifts of responses elicited via the eye that had worn the prism were also observed. As a result, cortical responses elicited via each eye were clearly separated when a visual stimulus was placed in front of the mice. A comparison of response areas before and after prism wearing indicated that the map shifts were produced by depression with spatial eccentricity. Visual map shifts based on whisker-guided cues may serve as a model for investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying higher sensory integration in the mammalian brain.