Why Adult Plasticity Matters Similar to how toddlers rapidly pick up languages during their formative years, our visual system too has its own 'critical period' in the initial years of life marked by swift development. Beyond this phase, adaptability dwindles, following the saying, 'You can’t teach
Researchers have devised a first-of-its-kind setup for delivering complex visual stimuli within a rodent MRI scanner to understand adult plasticity in the brain’s visual pathways. Credit: Hedi YoungSimilar to how toddlers rapidly pick up languages during their formative years, our visual system too has its own “critical period” in the initial years of life marked by swift development. Beyond this phase, adaptability dwindles, following the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
The study’s central question, therefore, was to explore whether the adult mammalian brain still possesses the ability to reorganize its visual pathway and change even after the critical developmental period has passed.
Having surmounted these challenges, the researchers set out to explore the adult brain’s adaptability to visual signals. They used a model in which rodents are born and raised in the dark until adulthood, well past the critical period of plasticity. Consequently, the brains of these animals had not yet undergone the key processes required for visual specialization.
Second, after exposure to light, the animals’ brains began to change. Even within a week, visual responses became more organized, such that neighboring neurons began to respond to nearby positions in the visual field, and the cells started to react more to specific visual characteristics. The receptive fields of the neurons also became smaller and more spatially selective. After a month, the animals’ brains looked much like those of healthy controls.
While lacking single cell specificity and indirectly reflecting neuronal activity, fMRI facilitates the longitudinal and non-invasive measurement of entire visual areas simultaneously with very high resolution. Adds Shemesh, “Within the preclinical setting, this technique could assist in pinpointing the optimal timing for visual restoration and rehabilitation procedures, enhancing the effectiveness of treatments like retinal stem cell transplantation.”
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