Inter-areal coordination of columnar architectures during visual cortical development

TL;DR

This study reveals that during the late critical period of visual cortex development, different cortical areas in cats become functionally coordinated, aligning their columnar architectures across regions and hemispheres.

Contribution

It demonstrates that critical period plasticity plays a key role in coordinating the development of cortical architectures across areas and hemispheres in the visual cortex.

Findings

Orientation columns in V1 and V2 become matched in size.

Coordination occurs across hemispheres.

Developmental timing aligns with critical period phases.

Abstract

The occurrence of a critical period of plasticity in the visual cortex has long been established, yet its function in normal development is not fully understood. Here we show that as the late phase of the critical period unfolds, different areas of cat visual cortex develop in a coordinated manner. Orientation columns in areas V1 and V2 become matched in size in regions that are mutually connected. The same age trend is found for such regions in the left and right brain hemisphere. Our results indicate that a function of critical period plasticity is to progressively coordinate the functional architectures of different cortical areas - even across hemispheres.